Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: Secrets of Summonings
by DragonFanatic10
Summary: 15-years old Brandon Kanbara unwillingly switched Duel Schools. Now, he's at a school where he is a duelist way more skilled than any other duelist on his school. The fact that he's able to use all kind of summonings doesn't help. However, behind each summoning is a story. A story that will turn his, and the life of others upside down.
1. Chapter 1

**Good day! **

**Since Arc-V came out, I wasn't really entertained. It didn't appeal to me. However, the more episodes came, the better it got. Fusion, Synchro and Xyz? Where can I sign?**

**And because of that, I'm planning on doing an Arc-V story, however, it won't be like my Zexal story.**

**At first, no characters from the anime will be in it. Only OC's. This is because I feel that only Oc's fit my writing style better, and too be honest I only like Shun, Yuto, Yuya, Reiji and Yuzu. If you don't like that, then don't read it.**

**Second, the cards used in Arc-V will make an appearance, mostly because their original owners (in this story) never exist or existed.**

**Third, the names are all americanized, mostly because I'm bad at thinking of Japanese names. The rest, so the monsters, are still japanese.**

**Fourth, my OC from my Zexal story, Brandon Kanbara, will make an appearance. This is because he is my standard OC. This means his name and appearance is the same, where his backstory and such might be not.**

**Fifth, it's not sure if I will create a whole fic, mostly because I don't know if people will like it or not. That's why I will publish chapter 1, based on the reactions of that, I will decide if I will make a whole fic of it.**

**With that being said, enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Unleash the pendulum.<p>

* * *

><p>The blond entered the room with an annoyed look on his face. Something that has reached him didn't amuse him.<p>

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" he asked.

The man turned his chair, revealing himself to the boy. "It's not. I'm not the type to joke."

The boy grunted. "Then why are you sending me to a school like that? It's far underneath my level."

"And that's exactly the reason," the man answered.

"Then give me a proper school, not one like that!" The boy was getting quickly annoyed with the man.

"You are one of our Master Rank duelists," the man began. "You are able to finish this quickly with your skills."

The blond said nothing, but the man knew what was going to come. The boy could be a real pain in the ass sometimes.

"You know what's coming up, right?" the man asked for confirmation.

"Of course," the boy nodded.

"In order to make sure someone of our school will win, we need to make sure other schools can't," the man said. "And we're doing that by destroying the schools from the inside. With your skills, they will quickly see you as their 'hero'. One that can be victorious for them."

"A school like ours doesn't need tricks like that," the boy said. "Especially not against a school like that."

"You should see it as an honor," the man said. "I'm allowing my best duelist to slack off. And I know how much you like to slack off."

"Fine. I will do as you please," the boy answered, finally accepting. "But I won't do it with pleasure."

The boy turned, heading for the door. The voice of the man temporarily stopped him.

"Kanbara."

"What is it?"

"Don't hold back. Show them all your strength in duels," the man spoke. "They have to see you as their 'hero'."

"If that's what you want, master." The door opened, the boy stopping in front of the opened door. "I will get the job done."

The boy stepped outside, the door closing.

The man stared at the door, hearing the blond's footsteps becoming fainter.

"Succeed and the dueling world shall see my success, Kanbara."

* * *

><p>"Come on, Riles! We're going to be late!"<p>

The blonde girl impatiently tapped with her feet on the ground, the running engine of a car being heard behind her.

The brunette girl soon escaped the house, closing the door behind her, joining up with the blonde girl.

"Sorry! Forgot my bag!" she apologized.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Come on! Mom's waiting in the car!"

The brunette nodded and followed her sister into the car. The car soon pulled up and left for school.

* * *

><p>"Finding a parking spot is a hell right here..." the mom mumbled while the two sisters hummed to the song on the radio.<p>

"You can drop off us right here," the blond sister said, pointing to the respective place. "It's not a far walk from there."

The mom drove to the side, leaving the sisters out. "Have a nice day at school!"

"We will!" the two sisters said in unison before the car left.

The girls started their walk to the school, ready to start the day.

But just like with every school, there's always that one gang that harasses other people.

One catcalled at them, the other one laughed at the other catcalling and the last one, probably the leader, approached them.

"Hello," he greeted, taking a hold of the blonde girl's arm. "Aren't you supposed to be at school right now?"

She took her arm back, being on the verge of snapping already. "We are. That's why we got to leave."

The boy growled, taking her arm back. "You're already late anyway. Why not have some fun?"

His grip intensified, leaving her no way out. The two others had already take hold of her sister, also leaving her no escape.

"Let me go!"

The leader pulled her closer, now being dangerously close. "Come on, not even one little kiss?"

"Not even a little bit," she answered.

The boy growled even harder. "I never get rejected, you little-"

"Let go of those girls," a guy's voice spoke.

A blond boy with a black v-neck shirt underneath a red body warmer walked over to the scene unfolding, hands hidden in his slightly sagged jeans, his dog-tag dangling in front of his chest.

"Or else?" the leader asked provokingly.

The moment the blond boy opened his eyes and looked into the leader's eyes, the latter started to take a step back.

"Or else I have to make you," he answered, clearly not impressed. "And the four of us know how the last time ended."

The other two took a step back in fear too, letting go of the brunette girl.

The leader ultimately let go of the blonde girl, taking a step back again, but he fell. "Please don't duel against us! We beg you!"

The blond boy crouched down in front of them, his eyes boring into the leader's.

It stayed silent for a while, but the blond decided to break that silence.

"Boo."

The three quickly got up, running away as fast as they could.

The blond boy swung the backpack he had placed on the ground before helping the girls back over his right shoulder, placing his hands back in his pockets afterwards.

"Thanks for helping," the blond girl said.

"No problem," he answered. "Those three are always harassing random people. Seems their parents didn't teach them any morals."

"So much was clear," the blonde said. "I'm Emily by the way."

"And I'm Riley," her sister introduced. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," the blond said.

Riley checked her watch and started to panic. "Come on, Em! We got to go or else we'll be late and we'll get a punishment!"

"Calm down, Riley. We're not **that **late," Emily said. "Well, we got to go. Thanks, once again!"

The two resumed their way too school running, leaving the blond boy behind on his own.

* * *

><p>The two girls quickly entered the room, panting heavily.<p>

"Sorry we're late," Emily apologized.

"There where some problems on our way," Riley explained. "Luckily a guy helped us."

"A guy?" one of the tallest boys with short black hair swept to the side asked. "Tell us more about your 'amazing hero'."

"I didn't say he was an 'amazing hero', James," Riley retorted.

"I know, because I'm an even more amazing hero," he boasted.

The two soon started an argument.

Meanwhile another girl with black hair and curls at the tip of her walked up to Emily, a sly smile on her face. "Was he cute?"

"Who?" Emily asked, pretending not to know what she was talking about. "I don't know who you are talking about, Stephanie.

"The guy that helped you," the girl answered. "Was he cute?"

Emily placed her bag on the ground with the bags of the others, not facing the black-haired girl. "He was kind of cute."

A slim, blond boy around James' height walked up to the blonde girl too, but it made Emily sigh.

"Not again..." she mumbled. "What is it, Eldon?"

"I was just wondering if you're alright," he answered. "Hey, you, uh, dropped your bag!"

"No, I placed it there," Emily corrected.

Eldon suddenly picked up her bag, giving it back.

"Eldon." Emily's eyes bore right through his. "I placed it on the ground. Leave it there."

The boy blinked a couple of times before swinging her bag over his shoulder.

He could feel everyone giving him strange looks, while Emily only face palmed in shame.

"What?" he asked. "Her bag will get dirty!"

James, a dark skinned boy, and a boy with brown hair started to snicker at him. The guy was trying way too hard.

"Didn't Kate tell us something about a new boy coming in to the school?" a girl with red hair that could easily be mistaken for brown asked.

"Maybe if he's good enough, he can join our group," a dark-skinned girl with brown curly hair suggested.

"Another one in our group?" An older woman walked into the room, coincidentally walking into the room. "The group is already very big."

"That's no problem," Emily assured. "We can switch him in for Michelle."

"Why me?" the blonde girl asked. "I have never done anything wrong."

"Coming here was wrong," Emily said.

Emily didn't like the fact that Michelle got to join the group, mostly because Emily as the group's leader was content with the way the group was now. She was afraid Michelle would mess that up. That, and she didn't like her for reasons unknown.

"There's no time for arguing, girls," Kate said. "Chris will be dueling the new boy in a couple of minutes. As the owner of this school, I need to be present to let him into the school when he wins."

"As the group's leader, I will come with you, Miss Kate," Emily said.

Some of the members looked at each other, thinking it was unfair that only Emily was allowed to come.

Kate and Emily were about to walk out of the room, but Kate stopped in front of the door. "You can come too. After all, every student is allowed to watch the entrance duels."

And together the group left for the duel field.

* * *

><p>Chris was standing at one side, his duel disk ready. On the other side, the duelist wasn't there yet, but he soon got send up with a platform.<p>

On top of the platform was a blond boy, his hands in his pockets. He seemed oddly disinterested.

"That's the guy who helped us out!" Riley said, pointing at him.

"You said he was kind of cute," Stephanie said. "He's very cute."

Emily rolled her eyes.

Kate was already standing ready, a microphone in her hands. "Welcome students, to this entrance duel! On the left is our own teacher, Chris Anders!"

The black man waved at the students in the stands, while Kate continued with her speech.

"And on the right the challenger, Brandon Kanbara!"

The blond only readied his red duel disk, a black arm blade appearing.

Chris smiled for a bit before he started to speak. "Are you ready? Because this is where it begins!"

Brandon said nothing, supporting the fact that he seemed very uninterested at what was happening.

"Duelist locked in battle!" Chris began, sure of it that Brandon would continue.

But when a reaction failed to come, Chris quickly decided to continue on his own, the students helping him.

"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!" they all went.

"They storm through this field!" Chris continued.

"Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling!" the students all went again.

"Action-" Chris began, action cards being spread all around the duel field.

"Duel!" both Chris and Brandon went. It was the first thing the blond had said since the moment he had entered the duel field.

"I'll start!" Chris said, playing a card. "I summon Bujin - Yamato in attack position!"

Bujin - Yamato, Level 4, 1800/200

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," Chris said, activating the effect of Yamato. "I add Hirume to my hand and discard Bujingi Hetsuka!"

"My turn, draw." The blond added the drawn card to his hand, thinking out all of his options. "I summon Golem Dragon in defense position and end my turn."

A dragon made of boulders appeared on the field, smashing down its claws in a defensive stand.

Golem Dragon, Level 4, 200/2000

**Chris: 4000, Cards x3**

**Brandon: 4000, Cards x5**

Chris drew his card, added it to his hand and revealed the earlier added Hirume to Brandon. "I banish Hetsuka from my grave to special summon Hirume!"

A harsh light could be seen on Chris's side of the field, a feminine monster appearing out of it.

Bujin - Hirume, Level 4, 2000/1000

"Then Arasuda's effect activates from my hand! When a Bujin monster is banished, I can special summon him in defense position!" Chris explained. He slapped the monster on the arm blade, this time a monster with a yellow armor appearing.

Bujin - Arasuda, Level 4, 1600/1900

"Bujin - Yamato, attack Golem Dragon!" Chris ordered, the beast-warrior roaring off towards the dragon. "Bujingi Habakiri's effect activates in my hand! When a Bujin monster battles with one of your monsters, I can discard it to double my monster's attack!"

Chris discarded Habakiri, strengthening Yamato.

Bujin - Yamato: 1800 → 3600

Yamato went on and destroyed Golem Dragon, leaving Brandon open for a direct attack.

"Hirume, direct attack him!"

Hirume obeyed and attacked the boy. Brandon, however, didn't even flinch.

Brandon: 4000 → 2000

"Turn end," Chris announced.

"Now that you had the first hit, I will at least try to play serious," Brandon said, drawing his card. "I activate the effect of Reactan in my hand. By discarding him and another dragon-type monster, I can special summon his adult form to the field."

Brandon discarded two dragon-type monsters, a large earth dragon appearing on the field. "I special summon Dragon Ruler of Boulders - Redox."

Dragon Ruler of Boulders - Redox, Level 7, 1600/3000

"Then I activate the effect of Tempest in my graveyard," Brandon announced. "By banishing two dragon-type monsters from my grave, I can special summon him to my field. I banish Golem Dragon and Reactan!"

A tornado raged onto Brandon's field, wings first appearing out of it before a whole dragon appeared.

Dragon Ruler of Storms - Tempest, Level 7, 2400/2200

"Tempest, attack Yamato," Brandon ordered. "Gale Hurricane!"

Tempest created a tornado that managed to devour Yamato.

Chris: 4000 → 3400

"Mikazuchi's effect activates!" Chris said. "When you destroy a Beast-Warrior Bujin monster, I can special summon him from my hand!"

This time a monster in bleu appeared on the field, having a very weird haircut.

Bujin - Mikazuchi, Level 4, 1900/1500

"I end my turn with that," Brandon announced, making a lot of people frown. Didn't he have a magic or trap card in his hand?

**Chris: 3400, Cards x0**

**Brandon: 2000, Cards x4**

"My turn, draw!" Chris played his drawn card face-down, not having really any other option. "I activate my trap! Tyrant's Coercion! By releasing Arasuda, all of my other monsters will be unaffected by other traps! With that I end my turn."

"Tempest and Redox's effects activates. When they're special summoned , they return to my hand at the end of your turn," Brandon explained.

Tempest disappeared into a tornado, disappearing from the field while Redox went up in dust.

"My turn, draw." Brandon played a magic card from his hand after adding his drawn card to his hand. "Pot of Greed allows me to draw 2 cards."

"Then I normal summon Clone Dragon," he said, a small dragon surrounded with a colorful aura appearing on the field.

And that was the moment Chris needed.

"Trap activate! Raging-Stream Burial!" Chris's trap card flipped open, destroying Clone Dragon. "This card destroys all monsters on the field at the moment a monster is summoned, but because of Tyrant's Coercion my monsters won't be destroyed!"

Brandon didn't even blink when his monster disappeared, instead he continued to look straight ahead.

"I hope that you have a trap card in your hand," Chris admitted. "Or else you have to search for an Action Card."

"Action Cards? Those things are for people who have no confidence in their deck," the blond answered.

The students looked at each other in confusing. They all had confidence in their deck, so why did he say that?

Brandon smirked. It was the first change of expression people had seen from him. "I'll tell you now. All the cards in my hand are monsters."

"All monsters?" Eldon repeated.

"He isn't even able to summon," James said.

"Unless he will use that one summoning," the boy with brown hair said.

"That summoning is only a myth, Daniel," Emily said. "Only _he_ once spoke about Pendulum Summon before his disappearance."

"But what if he can use it," the dark skinned boy said. "Then it's not much of a myth anymore, is it?"

It seemed that Brandon had somehow heard the comments, because he picked 2 cards out of his hand.

**"With the scale 1 Star Stream Dragon and the scale 11 Time Stream Dragon, I'm setting the Pendulum Scale!"**

Two blue pillars appeared, a galaxy-blue dragon in the right one and a green dragon with an arc on its back in the left. The two dragons rose up, a '1' and '11' appearing underneath them.

Star Stream Dragon, Scale 1

Time Stream Dragon, Scale 11

"With these two dragons set in my pendulum scale, I'm able to summon monsters from level 2 all up to 10," Brandon explained.

"All 5!?" Riley exclaimed as she started to panic. "What if they are all so powerful that they can defeat Chris in one hit? How does this guy even use Pendulum Summon in the first place?"

"Maybe he's just using the scales as a bluff because he's unable to really perform a pendulum summon," the redhead girl said.

**"Grand power of my proud soul, unleash yourself so that the light within can draw the outlines of my heart! Pendulum summon! Arise, my fierce dragons!" **Brandon recited.

A large hole opened up between Star Stream Dragon and Time Stream Dragon, 5 beams coming out of it and landing on Brandon's field.

First, the previously returned Redox reappeared. "Dragon Ruler of Boulders - Redox!"

As second, Tempest appeared back on the field with a roar. "Dragon Ruler of Storms - Tempest!"

The third beam took the form of a dragon made out of water, two horns and all other pointy parts on its body. "Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls - Tidal!"

Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls - Tidal, Level 7, 2600/2000

The fourth monster had some sort of lava flowing all over its body. "Dragon Ruler of Blazes - Blaster!"

Dragon Ruler of Blazes - Blaster, Level 7, 2800/1800

**"Arise with your strength directly given to you from the Pendulum, rare dragon with powers unknown to us all! Threat with dual colored eyes, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"**

The fifth beam crashed down upon the field, a red dragon with a red eye and a green eye descending on the field.

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Level 7, 2500/2000, Scale 4

The five dragons stood tall behind the blond, the audience gasping in surprise. No one had ever seen something like that.

"Battle phase," Brandon simply said. "Tempest, attack Mikazuchi. Gale Hurricane!"

The tornado Tempest created destroyed Mikazuchi, Chris' life points lowering.

Chris: 3400 → 2900

"Tidal, destroy Hirume! Tsunami Maelstrom!" Brandon ordered.

The water dragon roared, a tsunami raging over Chris' field. As soon as the tsunami died down without doing any damage, the maelstrom pulled Hirume in, destroying it.

Chris: 2900 → 2300

Chris began to search for action cards, knowing that if Brandon would keep this assault up, it would be over for him.

"You can run, but you can't escape my dragons," Brandon said. "Blaster, direct attack! Volcano Frenzy!"

Blaster roared before charging his attack, the heat becoming unbearable for the people close to the duel field. "Now."

Blaster unleashed its attack at Chris, who managed to grab and activate and action card on time.

"The Action card Avoid. It's not the one you were looking for," Brandon concluded. "I can read it from your face."

Chris gritted his teeth, if he only had a little bit longer for searching the right card, he could have saved himself for one more turn.

"It's okay to be afraid of my dragons. Especially because I have two attacks left, but because it's you, I will only use one of my attacks," Brandon said. "Odd-Eyes."

The dragon roared as it turned its head to its owner.

"Destroy everything in your path with those dual colored eyes of yours," Brandon ordered. "Spiral Strike Burst!"

The dragon's eyes started to glow as it's attack hit Chris, depleting his last life points.

Chris: 2300 → 0

**Brandon: WIN**

The monsters disappeared behind the blond, just like the blond himself. He left the duel field as soon as he could, having absolutely no business over there anymore.

Kate stood up from her seat in the stands, addressing Emily and the rest of the group. "You need to make sure that boy joins our group, understand that?"

"You can leave it to me, Kate," Emily assured.

"Very well then," Kate said before leaving.

Everyone looked at the door the blond boy had left through, completely perplexed by what he had just done.

Emily watched it all with a smile. _If he's really coming into our school, things could get really fun._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter one is done and because of that I would like to say that:<strong>

**The two pendulum monsters are self created cards, because outside of Odd-Eyes, there's no Dragon-type pendulum monster yet. Because I'm not someone who likes too many self created cards, I will try to keep them at a limited amount.**

**Not every character has his/her name revealed yet. The remaining names will be revealed in later chapters, probably 2, if this will become a whole fic. **

**And like I said, I'm not really sure of turning this into a full fic, so if you like it, I would love to hear it. Any suggestions or anything else? I would also love to hear those. And if you got a better title, please let me know.**

**Now, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I wish all of you a nice day.**

**See ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Good day, everyone!**

**As you know, I published the first chapter of this Arc-V story, not knowing if people would want a full story of that.**

**But I received 8 favorites, 7 follows and 4 positive reviews! This is something that means a lot to me, because I mean look at that number. That's a lot for someone like me.**

**And that's why I have decided to make this a full fanfic! It'll be quite some work, especially with also having a second story running. But I will try my best for you guys.**

**So without further ado, I present you chapter 2!**

**I hope you will enjoy it!**

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. I only own my OC's.**

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><p>The mysterious new duelist! Pendulum user, Brandon Kanbara!<p>

* * *

><p>The confetti fell down in large amounts since the moment his monster destroyed his opponent's. It won him the match.<p>

And with it the tournament.

"And the winner is Brandon Kanbara!" the commentator excitingly shouted through the microphone.

The boy eagerly accepted the trophy that easily was half his size, a large grin on his face while doing so.

An adult woman, probably his mom, watched it with a tear in her eye. Her little boy had won his first big tournament!

The boy soon returned back inside, towards the locker room that also served as the waiting room before a duel.

But when he entered the locker room, he heard someone clapping.

"Congratulations," a voice spoke.

Brandon was sure that the voice belonged to an adult man. But who was it? What was he doing in here in the first place?

"Thank you..." the blond boy reluctantly responded.

The man could hear confusion in the boy's voice, but also a little bit of hostility.

"I take it that you're wondering who I am," the man said.

The man could see the young boy nod slightly. The man seemed to smirk for a bit before he stepped into the light, making the young boy gasp.

"I have a proposal for you," the man said. "You are allowed refuse if you don't want to."

The boy said nothing, instead clutching his trophy tighter.

"Do you want to join me?"

The young boy raised an eyebrow. 'Do you want to join me'? Did that man just ask him to leave his mom to go live with him?

"I can see that you're confused," the man said. "So allow me to explain."

The man didn't start to explain immediately. Instead he waited on a sign from the boy. The sign was there in the nod he gave.

"Join me and I will train you. You don't have to move away. If you accept, I will train you to become the best duelist in the world!" the man explained.

The man extended his hand to the boy, making him step back. "So will you join me?"

Could he trust this man? He didn't even know him! What if he was the same as **him**?

But the 'best duelist in the world' part appealed to the boy. If this man could really make him that good, then why would he refuse?

The young boy placed his trophy down, proving to be quite a heavy task for him because of it's weight. For a piece of metal it was quite heavy.

The boy took the hand of the man, shaking it. "I will join you."

The man smiled, but the 'but' of the boy made that smile fade a little.

"But I want to stay with my mom! I'm not coming to live with you!"

The man smiled. He knew what the boy meant. Seemed the kid misunderstood that part.

The man placed his other hand down on the boy's head, ruffling his hair.

"Of course you can, little man. Of course you can."

* * *

><p>The voice of the woman awoke him out of his trip through memory lane. He opened his eyes, still giving him the sight of the halls they were walking through.<p>

_That was 8 years ago..._ he remembered. _But if you really wanted that, then why did you sent me to this school, master?_

"I'm sure that you will like your class," the woman said. "I placed you in a class where most of our top duelists are in."

The boy didn't say a thing. The woman took it that he wasn't really a man of words.

They ultimately reached the classroom not too many minutes after, entering it without any warning.

The children looked up when they saw Kate walk in. Surely one of them was in trouble.

However, the blond boy from before soon followed her into the room, his uninterested attitude still present.

"Everyone, this is Brandon," Kate introduced. "As you all might know, he's new and will join your class, starting from today. Brandon, would you like to introduce yourself?"

"Not really," he immediately responded.

"Alright then..." Kate said with an awkward tone.

The teacher took over, gesturing to a table in front of the class. "You can sit there."

But the blond quickly refused that. "I'll take the empty seat in the back."

"That's fine too," the teacher said.

"Be nice to him and make him feel at home," Kate said.

"Yes, miss Kate!" the whole class went.

"Well, I'll be going now. Have a nice day, everyone."

And as soon as she came, she left.

Emily couldn't suppress the small smile that had appeared on her face. Unbelievable that from all the classes he could be put into, he got put into her's!

But she didn't forgot what Kate had said. She needed to make sure he would join their group.

And he would join her group. She was sure of that.

* * *

><p>The bell rang, signaling the end of the class. Everyone got up and left the class as soon as they could.<p>

Luckily for Emily, Brandon wasn't very fast with leaving the back of the class as fast as he got there.

"Hey," she greeted.

The boy looked at her, a small smirk forming on his face. "Hey."

"I'm Emily," she introduced. _For real? He knows who I am! He'll start to think that I'm an idiot!  
><em>

Brandon looked at the girl. Blonde shoulder length hair being held back by a diadem, blue eyes. It was definitely the girl from earlier today.

"I know," he said. "I helped you and your sister out, didn't I?"

"That's us," she said, nervously laughing. "Anyway, would you like to spend the break with me and my friends?"

The blond stayed silent for a while, thinking about the option. He wasn't there to make friends, but it would help him to finish his mission quickly. The quicker he finished that, the quicker he could go back to his own school.

"Sure," he said, packing the last of his belongings, swinging his backpack over his shoulder when he was done. "You'll have to lead the way though."

The two entered the hallway, and Brandon just followed Emily the whole walk.

It was strange for Emily. He was silent, a little bit too silent.

But compared with the other guys, this guy was a gift send from above with his silence. Maybe because those boys were always so loud, this guy seemed too quiet.

The two soon stood in front of a door to Brandon's confusion. Break at his previous school was always outside. What were these peoples for hermits?

Emily held the doorknob in her hand, looking back at the blond boy for a bit. "Come on, they don't bite."

"I'm just waiting for you to open the door" he said. "Oh and by the way..."

"Hm?"

"I don't think that you're an idiot."

Emily blinked once... twice... even a third time. "How did you?"

"Everybody thinks someone will think that people will believe you're an idiot when you introduce to that person twice on the same day," Brandon explained.

The look on her face was priceless. He wasn't on the school to make friends or do anything other than executing his mission, but messing with this girl was quite fun.

"You're allowed to open the door, you know."

"Right."

She turned the doorknob, opening the door. And what the boy saw inside made his eyes widen.

To say it was chaos was an understatement.

* * *

><p>He could see Riley and a tall black-haired boy argue.<p>

Then there was a dark skinned boy and a boy with his hair swept to the side arguing with each other about which dueling style is better.

Then there where 3 other girls. The dark skinned girl with her curly hair tied in a large bun and Stephanie looked at everything with disgust. Those kids really needed some order. The redhead girl just looked at everything with concern.

The only people who actually _seemed_ to be calm were Michelle and Eldon, but even that changed when Eldon noticed Emily coming in.

The boy quickly approached Emily, greeting her for the umpteenth time that day. "Hey Emily."

"What is it, Eldon?" the blonde asked, clearly annoyed.

"Nothing, just um..." the boy's eyes nervously wandered all over the place. "Want a cookie?"

Brandon couldn't help but laugh at the boy. (Inwardly of course. He's too cool to display emotion.) He made himself look stupid in front of everyone. Not that everyone was paying attention.

"I don't have time for this nonsense," Emily growled. "I need to get everyone calm."

Upon hearing that, Brandon readied his duel disk and picked out a card out of his deck.

"Odd-Eyes, calm this bunch of kids, if you'd like," he said, slapping the card on the disk blade.

The red dragon appeared on the room, not being noticed until it unleashed a roar.

Everyone looked at the direction the roar came from. They all remembered the dragon from earlier on the day.

Which meant that it's owner was present too.

The boy leaned with his back against the dragon, arms crossed.

"Thanks," Emily said.

"You're welcome," Brandon answered as he took the card of the arm blade, Odd-Eyes disappearing.

"As you can see," Emily started, gesturing to Brandon, "we have a new boy joining our group."

Brandon raised an eyebrow. "Joining? I never said anything about joining."

"Right. About that-"

"Joining?" Riley asked.

"Don't we get to say something about that too?" James asked.

"Shouldn't you introduce me to these people first? I only know one of all these people," Brandon said, his eyes falling on Riley. "Yo."

"Hey," Riley greeted back, making James frown.

"So that's the big hero," James joked.

A dark skinned boy walked up to Brandon, offering him a hand, one that the blond took. "The name's Lamar West. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

James placed his hand on Lamar's shoulder, urging him to move. "There are also other people who want to show off to the new one."

"Just like you show off to all the girls?" Riley asked.

"Anyway, I'm James," he said with a grin. "James Trevorson."

"Brandon," Brandon introduced. "Riley always putting you in your place?"

"Don't even worry about it," James said.

"Worrying about things isn't really my thing," Brandon said.

Brandon's eye fell on the boy with his hair swept to the right. He had quite the disgusted look on his face.

"Who's the prissy boy?" Brandon asked.

"I'm not a prissy boy. I'm Daniel," the boy introduced.

"You aren't? From what I could hear you were quite disgusted about Lamar's kind of dueling," Brandon said, having heard a little bit of their argument. "Therefore, from now on, you are prissy boy to me."

Some of the teens looked at the blond. He was making enemies already. Even though Daniel couldn't really be seen as an enemy. The guy hated drama. And picking a fight with this guy definitely fell in the category 'drama'.

The blond looked further across the room. Michelle saw him looking at her and thus she decided to introduce herself too. "Hi, I'm Michelle."

The boy smirked for no real reason. "Well, I'm not going to repeat my name constantly."

"It's fine," the blond assured, making the blond boy change his gaze to somewhere else.

The three girls in the corner were the target this time.

"Paris Pollany."

"Stephanie Grecchiano."

"Chloe Jennas," the redhead introduced.

"If that wasn't monotone then I don't know what else is," the blond remarked, referring at the way Stephanie and Paris introduced themselves. It earned him a disgusted look from both.

The blond turned back to Emily. "Now what was it about joining? I only remember agreeing to having break with these people."

Eldon looked at it and didn't like it. This boy obviously was the boy that had helped her this morning. Emily even admitted it. Then they come walk in together and then he just starts to speak to Emily like that? And she's fine with it too?

He needed to something. Even if it was only to impress Emily.

But what he did might have been the most stupid thing he could do.

"Hey!" He pushed the blond boy away slightly, with something that needed to look like a glare in his eyes. "Don't be so rude to her!"

The blond looked at the boy with an unimpressed look in his eyes. "What's wrong, wimp? Aren't I allowed to ask things?"

"Well... yes... but..." He now looked at the blond with a confident look. "You don't have to be so rude."

"Eldon, it's fine," Emily said. To be honest, she didn't even know if that was rude. The guy couldn't help it that his voice was naturally deeper than the other's.

But Eldon didn't listen, instead he got closer to the blond boy. Very close.

They were now probably a few millimeter apart from each other, Eldon looking down the slightly shorter blond.

The blond shot the taller boy a death glare, making Eldon panic a little bit.

"Has nobody ever taught you that you don't need to pick fights you can't win?" Brandon asked, a slight bit of hostility present in his voice.

Eldon didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say either. He had never expected this boy to be so... frightening_. _So far for impressing Emily... He was completely frozen.

Brandon's glare disappeared because he closed his eyes, a smirk forming on his lips. "I know a way to solve all this."

"And that is?" Eldon finally found some words he could use, even if it were the wrong ones.

"We duel. If you win I won't talk to your 'girlfriend' ever again and I will join your little club if you want me to."

Eldon smiled for a little bit. Brandon had just called Emily his girlfriend, even it was just sarcastically.

Emily herself cringed on that part.

"But if I win, I'm free to go and do as I wish."

There didn't come an immediate answer on his proposal. Mostly because Eldon didn't know what to do.

The guy had defeated Chris without any trouble, using Pendulum summon to do so. How was he supposed to play against that?

"Not so big now, are you, wimp?" Brandon was provoking him good. The guy sure knew how to intimidate people.

"Eldon accepts."

The two looked at Emily, who stood with her hands on her hips.

"Perfect," Brandon said, a dangerous look in his eyes.

Emily noticed the look Eldon gave her. She had to make sure that he would willingly duel Brandon.

"This is your chance to show me what you got, Eldon," Emily said, the tone in her voice becoming suspiciously soft.

And while everyone noticed what Emily was doing, Eldon didn't. And thus, he agreed with a smile.

* * *

><p>"Ready, wimp?" Brandon asked, a serious look on your face. "Not that it matters. I'll crush you anyway."<p>

"Ready," Eldon confidently answered.

"I'll show you that you should never start a fight you can't win," Brandon said.

"DUEL!"

"I will start!" Eldon announced, drawing his card. "I summon Elemental Hero Blazeman!"

A warrior with flames that appeared to be hair appeared on the field, activating it's effect. "When Blazeman is normal or special summoned, I get to add Fusion to my hand!"

Elemental Hero Blazeman, Level 4, 1200/1800

Eldon picked out the Fusion card out of his deck, showing it to Brandon before adding it to his hand.

"I set one card face-down. Turn end."

"My turn. Draw." The blond added his drawn card to his hand, picking out a monster card. "I summon Alexandridragon."

A jeweled dragon appeared on the field with a roar.

Alexandridragon, Level 4, 2000/0

"Alexandridragon, destroy Blazeman," Brandon ordered.

The dragon destroyed Blazeman with a beam that shone just as bright as the jewels on itself, blinding the monster for a bit before it got destroyed.

"Trap activate!" Eldon shouted, his face-down activating. "Hero Signal allows me to special summon one level 4 or lower Elemental Hero monster from my hand or deck. And I special summon Elemental Hero The Heat!"

Elemental Hero The Heat, Level 4, 1600/1200

"The Heat's ability activates! He gains 200 attack for each Elemental Hero I control!" Eldon explained, The Heat's attack rising.

Elemental Hero The Heat: 1600 → 1800

Eldon: 4000 → 3200

"Turn end."

"What?" Riley asked. "No face-down? Again?"

**Eldon: 3200, Cards x4**

**Brandon: 4000, Cards x5**

"My turn! Draw! I summon Elemental Hero Flash in defense position!"

A warrior in a blue spandex appeared on the field, giving off sparks.

Elemental Hero Flash, Level 4, 1100/1600

"And now The Heat's attack increases again!" Eldon said, The Heat's attack rising again. "Turn end!"

Elemental Hero The Heat: 1800 → 2000

Eldon: Cards x4

Brandon: Cards x5

"Draw." Brandon removed Alexandridragon from the arm blade, placing another card on its place instead. "I release Alexandridragon to advance summon Magic-Equipped Sacred Dragon Etherweapon."

Alexandridragon disappeared from the field, a golden dragon taking its place.

Magic-Equipped Sacred Dragon Etherweapon, Level 6, 2300/1600

"Sacred Dragon, destroy The Heat," Brandon ordered.

Etherweapon released a golden beam from its mouth, destroying The Heat.

Eldon: 3200 → 2900

"You're lucky that I don't have multiple monsters to keep my assault up," Brandon said. "But I'll tell you know, I'm able to Pendulum summon on my next turn, so you should be fast if you want to prevent that."

Eldon gritted his teeth. He needed to do something fast.

He wouldn't lose to a big show off.

**Eldon: 2900, Cards x4**

**Brandon: 4000, Cards x5**

* * *

><p>Kate remembered the only thing she didn't like from her work. The paperwork.<p>

Luckily for her, it was just 1 student transferring instead of a whole lot. And luckily, Chris was there to help her. Making him the head dueling examiner has been a good choice.

She flipped through the papers of Brandon, a lot of his data present on it. But there was one thing that caught her eye when she flipped through.

His dueling achievements.

"Chris. Look at this," she ordered, as Chris looked at it over her shoulder.

"Those are quite the tournaments to win," Chris said, remembering a few of them. "He's really good."

"Exactly. He's too good," Kate said. "Why would a duelist with achievements like these want to attend this school? There surely must be some kind of elite school that has already offered him a place in their school!"

"Does it matter?" Chris asked, making Kate frown. "He decided to come to this school, so I don't really see a problem."

"Right."

Kate went through the last bit of paperwork, finishing the transfer of the blond boy.

But she still thought it was strange that someone like him would want to go to their school.

A little bit too strange.

* * *

><p>"My turn! Draw!" Eldon activated a card that he had added to his hand on his first turn: Fusion. "I activate Fusion from my hand!"<p>

The Heat and Lady Heat swirled together, the vortex of Fusion appearing in the background. **"Fiery hero of justice! Become one with the feminine flame! Fusion summon! Appear, Elemental Hero Nova Master!"**

On the field stepped a warrior with red and yellow armor, a red cape draped around his shoulders.

Elemental Hero Nova Master, Level 8, 2600/2100

"Fusion summon," Brandon noticed. "From all the strong summonings you could use, you decided to use the weakest and the easiest? Pathetic."

"Pathetic? But Fusion summon is one of the summonings only the elite use," Eldon said.

"I know. But it still is the weakest and the easiest. That's all," Brandon stated. "But it's still your turn, so go ahead and destroy Sacred Dragon."

Eldon immediately did as told, ordering Nova Master to destroy Sacred Dragon. "Nova Master, destroy Sacred Dragon!"

Nova Master's fist got engulfed in fire, punching Sacred Dragon to destruction with it.

Brandon: 4000 → 3700

"Nova Master's effect activates! When he destroys a monster in battle, I'm allowed to draw one card!" Eldon explained as he drew his card, adding it to his hand. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn. Draw."

At the exact moment Brandon drew his card, Eldon's trap opened, making the former frown.

"With Disturbance Strategy you are forced to shuffle your whole hand back in your deck!" Eldon explained.

Brandon first showed Eldon all the cards in his hand, Time stream Dragon, Star stream Dragon and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon present in it.

Afterwards he returned them to his deck, shuffling it after he was done.

"Now you're allowed to draw the same number of cards you discarded," Eldon explained.

Brandon drew his 6 cards, looking at them with a serious expression.

He suddenly started to clap, making everyone frown. "Bravo. You prevented me from Pendulum summoning. Not bad for a wimp like you."

"Thanks!" Eldon said, not sure if it was an insult or a compliment. "I guess..."

"However, I don't only have Pendulum summon to crush you with. Instead, I have something else up my sleeve." Brandon played a magic card from his hand, the card brightly glowing.

"I can now perform two normal summons this turn because of Dual Summon," Brandon explained as he picked out 2 other cards out of his hand. "And thus, I normal summon Core Chimail Drago and Ancient Dragon."

A blue dragon and a clawless dragon appeared on the field with roars.

Core Chimail Drago, Level 4, 1900/1600

Ancient Dragon, Level 4, 1400/1300

Eldon looked towards Brandon and saw a certain look in his eyes. One that meant that he was up to something, something that could be dangerous.

"It's time that I show you a real summoning," Brandon said, addressing his two monsters. **"Level 4 Drago, Ancient Dragon, overlay!"**

The two dragons turned into beams, disappearing into a large slow swirling hole.

**"With these two monsters I build the overlay network! Created from pitch-black darkness, armed with mighty treacherous fangs. To rebel against those foolish enough to oppose you! Descend now, rebellious part of my soul! Xyz summon! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"**

The monster formed itself inside of the hole, making the overlay network explode when it was formed. A black dragon took it's placed behind Brandon with a loud roar, smoke created by its summoning.

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Rank 4, 2500/2000, Overlay units: 2

"Xyz summon!" Riley exclaimed.

"But what's the point in summoning a monster that's weaker than Nova Master?" James asked out loud.

"Seems he isn't as good as he thinks he is," Daniel stated.

It made Brandon smirk. "Seems you guys are unaware of my Dark Rebellion or any other monster in my deck. My dragons are able to crush everyone with ease. They will devour you even faster than you can put up a defense. The same goes for Dark Rebellion, undoubtedly one of the strongest dragons in my deck, if not the strongest."

"What's your point?" Stephanie asked from the sidelines.

"Allow me to show you," Brandon answered. "By detaching the soul of my soul's rebellious part. Treason Discharge!"

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: Overlay units: 2 → 1

Dark Rebellion's wings 'opened', purple sparks coming out of it, heading towards Nova Master. The sparks held Nova Master in their grip, tying him together. Dark Rebellion roared as it saw Nova Master struggling, his attack dropping.

Elemental Hero Nova Master: 2600 → 1300

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 2500 → 3800

"What!?" Eldon went. "But how!?"

"Treason Discharge halves the attack of one of your monsters until the end phase, increasing the strength of Dark Rebellion with that same amount," Brandon explained.

Eldon's eyes widened, but Brandon wasn't done yet.

"Dark Rebellion's effect isn't a once per turn effect, which means that I can use Treason Discharge as often as I like in a turn, as long as there are overlay units," Brandon explained. "Treason Discharge."

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: Overlay units: 1 → 0

The same process from earlier repeated itself, making Dark Rebellion roar once again. Eldon stood powerless against it. That monster was really something else.

Elemental Hero Nova Master: 1300 → 650

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 3800 → 4450

"Are you ready to behold the strength of a real monster?" Brandon rhetorically asked. "Battle!"

Eldon desperately checked his field and hand. Maybe, just maybe there was a card there that could help him.

But to his disappointment, there was no card that could save him. He should have made the guy agree to an Action Duel.

The orbs on Dark Rebellion's wings started to glow, blue thunder sparks surging through the monster's wings, the horn on its chin getting enveloped in bright light. (Is it even a horn? Or is it some kind of strange saber-tooth?"

"Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. Rebellious Lightning **Disobey**."

The dragon roared as it flew off towards Nova Master, impaling him through the chest with its horn, purple sparks flying around upon contact.

Nova Master went up in smoke from the attack, Eldon being knocked back from the power.

Eldon: 2900 → 0

**Brandon: WIN**

Dark Rebellion disappeared from the field and Brandon turned away from Eldon.

"Do you see now? The strength of Xyz, the strength of my dragons. It far exceeds yours," Brandon said. "I hope you learned that you shouldn't start a fight you will never win."

The blond boy walked towards the door, placing his hand on the doorknob. "I'm out of here. If you want me to join this little club of yours, make sure that you're at a decent level instead of this amateurish level."

At the same moment the blond threw the door behind him to a close, the bell rang, signaling the end of the break.

* * *

><p>"What are we waiting on?" the boy asked. The 2 that needed to be present were present. What was the man waiting for?<p>

At that moment, the door opened, the blond boy the man waited on stepping into the room.

"Kanbara?" the boy asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, you're on that lowly school now," the second boy said.

"Only for my mission," he simply said, bowing down in front of the turned chair. "Master. I've already found something that might be interesting."

The two others bowed down too, still not sure what Brandon was doing in the room while he switched schools. Even if it was only for his mission.

"What is it that might be so interesting, Brandon?" the man asked, not turning his chair.

The boy smirked before he answered.

"One of the students on that school uses Elemental Heroes."

The chair turned, the man now facing the 3 teens. "Elemental Heroes you say?"

Brandon nodded. "Yes. The archetype that's focused around Fusion summon."

"Excellent," the man said.

The two other teens shot each other a look. The man liked everything Brandon did. If he would kill someone without any reason, the man would still compliment him on doing it. They still didn't understand why the man did that.

And now that he came with something that interested master, Brandon would climb even more on the 'Master's favorite duelists tree'. For as far as that was possible for him.

The man squeezed his eyes together slightly, interested in what Brandon had told him.

"Please. Tell me more."

* * *

><p><strong>Woo! Elemental Heroes baby!<strong>

**I know that some of you won't like it, mostly because they have already been used by Judai, but I think that the Elemental Heroes are really fitting for Arc-V because of their focus around Fusion summoning.**

**Of course, I will try to use the more 'unknown' heroes or the ones of the manga or whatever people call it.**

**I have already thought of the decks for other characters too, but I'm still not sure about 2 of them. If you have any suggestions for a deck type, I would love to hear it.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope that you like my decision to make this a full fic. I wish all of you a nice day.**

**See ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. I only own the OC's.**

* * *

><p>A new recruit! S-Rank duelist, Brandon Kanbara!<p>

* * *

><p>"Shouldn't you be at that other school right now?"<p>

The black-haired boy looked at this comrade with a questioning look. He was aware of the fact that he was attending another school for certain purposes but why was he here then?

The blond shook his head. "I don't feel like hanging out there. Their duel skills are despicable."

"You discovered that already?"

The blond nodded. "They have a select group of duelists. Probably their Master Rank. But those people are equal to our third rank."

"That's not very good, is it?"

There didn't follow an answer. Instead, a question followed.

"When are you coming to join me at Master Rank, Kai?" he asked. "You're not worse than Marcellos with his friggin' circus animals."

The black haired boy shot the blond a confused look before a small smile appeared on his face. "I'm flattered that you think that I belong there with you, but I don't belong there. I'm kicking back to often for that."

The blond raised an amused eyebrow at his friend. "Out of the three Master Rank duelists, I'm the one who slacks off the most and look where I stand."

"But you are way better than me in every way. You have more natural skill, you have trained much more as a kid and your motivation to be the best is one of the greatest," the boy explained.

"And look what it brought me. Master sent me to the Your Move Duel School. If that isn't a punishment than I don't know what else is..." the boy sighed.

"Master has his reasons for sending you there I guess..." Kai muttered. "How many summonings have you used already?"

"Xyz and Pendulum."

"Pendulum?" Kai repeated. "Already?"

"Master told me not to hold back," Brandon answered. "So I won't."

Kai chuckled a bit before answering. "You really are one of a kind. Someone with a mission like yours would try to stay low."

The blond shrugged. "It's difficult staying low when a lot of people already know you."

"A lot of people, except them it seems," Kai laughed.

Kai didn't know what time it was. But he saw a lot of students heading inside. It was probably time to start classes.

But Brandon was still there while he should be on another school.

"Shouldn't you go?" Kai asked. "Classes at your school will also start around now."

"This is my school," the blond answered.

"The other school."

The blond shrugged. "I'll just say I couldn't find where I needed to be because I'm new."

The two boys did a weird handshake with each other before parting ways.

But Kai shot a worrisome look at the leaving boy, the story the blond told him fresh in his mind.

"Why would Master want to send our best duelist away...?"

* * *

><p>"Come on! Think harder!" Emily ordered.<p>

She was clearly annoyed by what happened yesterday. The one chance they had to get that guy in their group and Eldon messed up.

Great. Just great.

"Just ask Kate to put him in our group," James said. "It's the easiest way to do so and then Kate's happy that he's in our group and you are happy because you succeeded."

"No. I'm the leader. Kate gave me the assignment to get him in," Emily said. "If Kate lets him in, then I have failed as a leader!"

"Just let him start in the lowest group and then he can work himself up," Daniel said. "We all needed to do that!"

"I didn't," West said. "I started in C-Rank."

"Why does Kate want him in this group anyway?" Stephanie asked, clearly annoyed. "Just because he can use Pendulum summon?"

"We don't even know what he can really do," Paris continued. "He was lucky that he had the right cards in his hand. He only used one magic card in all two duels!"

"But his deck is deadly," Riley butted in. "Those Dragon Rulers, the Pendulum monsters and that Xyz monster."

"And he beat Eldon, the best duelist in here," Michelle said. "So he must have some skill in him."

"Some skill?" James asked, quite astonished that they called it 'some skill'. "While his personality needs working on, his skills are for real!"

"I really appreciate the compliment."

Everyone looked up to the direction the voice came from. The blond boy leaned against the doorpost with his back, arms crossed.

"What are you doing here?" Eldon asked.

The boy smirked. "Kate placed me in your highest rank. S-Rank, if I recall correct."

"Kate did that?!" Emily asked.

The blond nodded. "Seems she was greatly impressed with my skill. Can't blame her. Now, I'm going to chill in that corner every time I'm here. Don't even bother to try to come in contact with me."

He walked past everyone on his way to the corner, laying down with his arms behind his head.

"I remember him being nicer..." Riley muttered.

"That guy has some guts...!" Paris disgustedly said.

Kate walked into the room the same moment Brandon had settled in the corner, an unamused expression on her face.

"Seeing that you failed to recruit him on your own, it was necessary for me to place him in A-Rank," Kate explained. She quickly addressed Emily, placing her hands on her hips. "I really hope that this was just an incident, Emily. It was disappointing for me that you failed. I'm not used to that."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "It won't happen again. I don't know where it went wrong."

"You tried to let that Eldon guy beat me. That's where it went wrong," Brandon sneered. "Fusion summon. What a joke."

"I wish we could say that about Pendulum summon and Xyz summon too..." Chloe admitted.

* * *

><p>"It seems Brandon Kanbara has switched schools."<p>

The teen looked at the data with a blank face.

"Knowing that man, he probably had his reasons for making Kanbara switch."

"Sir. Why is it that you carry an interest in Brandon Kanbara?" a man, clothed in a black suit with a black tie asked. "You are monitoring him for quite some time now."

The teen turned his chair, looking over the city through the large window in his office.

"Is it because he carries Pendulum monsters with him?" the man asked when an answer failed to come.

"It's not that. Even though I won't deny that the Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon is an impressive monster," the teen admitted. "However, my reason is simple."

He turned towards the man, placing his elbows on his desk, his fingers intertwined in front of his face. "I just really want to duel him."

"Duel him?"

The teen rose out of his chair, multiple screens appearing. The teen watched over the city as he started to talk.

"Despite the age difference of 2 years that's between us, I really want to duel him. As you know I was seen as a dueling prodigy in my age category. However, Brandon Kanbara was that in his age category. He topped every tournament he participated in. He dominated in his age category."

One of the screens showed a picture of the blond boy with a large trophy in his hands, a large grin on his face.

"So did you, Sir."

"I know. But despite that, I really want to duel Brandon Kanbara. I love good duels. I'm sure of it that Brandon Kanbara can give me that," the teen revealed.

"But Sir, I've seen your deck. Brandon Kanbara wouldn't stand a chance against you," the man said.

"So you think," the teen said, an amused smile on his face. "But have you seen Brandon Kanbara's deck?"

The man shook his head. "Can't say that I have."

"Exactly." The display on the screens changed, this time duel monsters were present on it. "Brandon Kanbara, also called the Dragonic Emperor by many, is the owner of the Dragon Rulers."

"T-The Dragon Rulers?!" the man said, not believing what he had heard. "The highly sought after Dragon-type cards?"

"The few that have witnessed them say that they are overpowered, however, I think that's not the case," the teen admitted. "I think it's the way Brandon Kanbara uses them that makes them overpowered."

"Is he that good?" the man asked.

"You think they call him the Dragonic Emperor for fun?" the teen sarcastically asked. "He is able to use the strength of his Dragon Rulers and the other dragons to do his bidding. The way he uses them makes them more destructive than they are supposed to be. He's the one positioned higher than any Dragon Ruler: The Dragonic Emperor. Standing far above and ruling over the rest."

"But the Dragon Rulers are only a group of 8 cards. A deck is composed of at least 40. Which means that your deck is stronger overall," the man said.

"I'm flattered that you think my deck is stronger, but mine and Brandon Kanbara's deck share similarities," the teen answered.

"Similarities?" the man repeated. "That seems high unlikely to me."

"Both our decks have Pendulum monsters and have a focus on quickly summoning monster from our extra deck," the teen revealed. "It allows Brandon Kanbara to bring out his strongest monsters."

"Strongest monsters?" the man asked. "I thought you said the Dragon Rulers were his strongest monsters."

"I never said that. They are the strongest monsters in his main deck, except for one. But the ones in his extra deck, plus the one in his main deck, are his strongest," the teen said. "Pendulum Dragon, Xyz Dragon and the Synchro Dragon."

"Now you're really making me wonder as a lover of dueling, Sir," the man said. "A duel between you and Brandon Kanbara... I wonder who would be the victor."

"I have been wondering about that for a long time too," the teen admitted. "Luckily, it won't be much longer anymore. I'm convinced of it that Brandon Kanbara and I shall clash."

"And I'm looking forward to that day," the man honestly said.

The teen smiled, turning to the man.

"I am too... I am too."

* * *

><p>"Brandon managed to become one of them. Their highest rank, S-Rank," Master said. "I'm entrusting you with the same mission as him, but I'm sending you to another school."<p>

The dark-skinned boy said nothing, making Master frown. "Or might it be that you don't have the ambition to overthrow Brandon Kanbara anymore?"

"Of course I want that," the dark-skinned boy said. "That spot needs to belong to someone who deserves it."

"Deserve it?" Master started to laugh at the boy. "Oh Marcellos. You're envy is so deep that you think Brandon doesn't deserve his spot."

Marcellos looked up with a semi-shocked expression. What was the man trying to say?

"I know that there is a rivalry between my three Master Rank duelists, but Brandon is far ahead of you, Marcellos," the man told him. "So if you want to overthrow him, you should try really hard."

"How about Justin, is he far ahead of me too?" Marcellos asked.

"He isn't far ahead of you. Just a little bit." Master chuckled. "Seems his great dislike for Brandon drives him forward."

Marcellos gritted his teeth. Master seemed to notice it.

"That's right, Marcellos. Out of the three Master Rank duelists, you are the weakest, even though you are the most hardworking," the man said. "If you only had the hunger of Justin or the pure talent of Brandon, you would have been able to stand on top."

"Are you saying I should become like them!?" Marcellos asked, clearly annoyed.

"Just as I thought. Justin and Brandon both know their shortcomings, but have confidence in the other things they got. They can handle my critique and use it to get stronger," Master explained. "It seems you can't do that. Maybe you aren't suitable enough for the Master Rank."

"I am suitable enough, Master. I will show you during this mission. I will complete it faster than Kanbara will complete his," he promised.

"Very well. But remember, work hard to stay at Master Rank. There are enough Hyper Rank duelists able and wanting to take your place."

"I won't forget that, Master."

* * *

><p>"Brandon. What are you doing here?" Master asked. "You have already reported for today."<p>

"Master. If it's not too much trouble, I would like to request extra training from you," the blond asked. "Now that I'm at a school that makes me slack off, I need to strengthen myself in another way."

"It's good to know that the motivation you once held hasn't decreased," Master said. "But are you ready to go through all that again?"

"My motivation to be the best has only become stronger, especially with what's coming soon," the blond admitted. "I'm ready to go through every pain I need to."

"And then there are people who say you don't deserve your spot," Master mused. "This is why you are the best duelist here."

"Who says that, if I may ask?"

"Marcellos. And I'm sure that Justin says it too, but in his mind."

"I see. So they want to overthrow me."

"Don't you feel threatened?" Master asked.

"It's a reminder that my feeling is right. I need to become stronger. Not because I want to stay the strongest Master Rank duelist, but because I want to become the best duelist in the world..." the boy spoke. "This only reminds me that there are a lot of people sharing the same dream as me."

"Do you want to become stronger, keeping a possible clash between you and him in mind?"

"Clash with who?"

"The one you hold big respect towards," Master answered. "The other duel child prodigy."

Brandon smirked, clearly amused. "Indirectly, it prepares me for our clash."

"You're really looking forward to it. I can see it in your eyes," Master said. "They gain an unusual spark in them when it's brought up."

"He's strong. He can give me a duel that makes my blood boil. A duel that makes the dragon inside of me roar of excitement," Brandon admitted. "I haven't been able to find an opponent like that yet..."

"I see. I'll contact you about your training soon."

The boy smirked, a thankful expression present on his face. "Thank you, Master. I'll work hard when the time comes."

"As expected."

The boy bowed to the man before leaving, heading home.

"The very Dragonic Emperor clashing with that guy, huh?" Master's face adopted an amused smile. "I'm really looking forward to that."

* * *

><p>"Kanbara."<p>

The blond boy stopped his walk through the long hall, glancing to his right.

"Jason."

Said boy got near the boy, a scowl upon his face. "What do you know about that Fusion guy?"

"Calm down. They don't seem evil," Brandon said. "I doubt that they have any relation to them. Besides, it's normal for people nowadays to use Fusion."

"You can never be too careful," Jason said. "And you are never careful."

"It's only one person that used Fusion. Once there are more people displaying Fusion, Master will be informed of it," Brandon spoke.

"You have to let me know first! That way I can already defeat them!" Jason said.

"Shut up. Master will know first. I'm sure that you will know it soon too, being the leader of that group," Brandon stated. "But you should watch what you're saying. If Master hears that... He can throw you out of his school without hesitation."

"I know," he admitted. "Sorry for my tone."

"It's fine. I understand your feelings," Brandon said. "But don't worry. If it will really reach that far, I will definitely choose sides."

"You will choose our side, right?" Jason asked, just to be sure.

The blond shrugged. "We'll see when the time comes."

* * *

><p>"You called me here, Miss Kate?"<p>

Emily took a seat in the chair in front of her desk, now facing Kate.

"That's right," Kate confirmed. "I want you to do something for me."

"You can count on me for that," Emily confidently said. "What do I have to do."

"Find out more about Brandon Kanbara. We know almost nothing about him, strangely enough," Kate explained. "And it worries me. As the owner of this school, I need to know about my students to protect them. For you, as leader of the S-Rank, it's important too, in order to help the other students."

"I understand." Emily stood up from her seat, placing her hands on Kate's desk. "I will drop by his house to get some information about him. It's my job as the leader to do that."

"Good! I'm counting on you," Kate informed with a smile.

"And that's why I won't fail this time!"

* * *

><p><strong>No duels today folks. Despite that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I wish all of you a nice day.<strong>

**See ya!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

><p>Issues.<p>

* * *

><p>The boy closed the door behind him, removing his shoes.<p>

His dog came to greet him, its tongue out of his mouth.

"Yo, Tyson." The boy petted the dog for a bit, making it lick his face. "Good boy..."

The boy got up, the dog following towards the living room.

"Mom. I'm back."

Said woman looked up, greeting him with a warm smile. "Hey, Brandon. How was school today?"

"As always," he said, placing his backpack on the ground.

"We have a visitor by the way."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Visitor?"

At the mention on visitor, she greeted him.

"Hello, Brandon."

Blue eyes. Blonde hair. Emily.

"What are you doing here?"

* * *

><p>Brandon took a sip of his drink without his harsh gaze weakening.<p>

That those people from the S-Rank tormented him on that school was fine.

But in his own house? This was bad. He didn't have an intention to make friends.

"I'm here because, as leader of the S-Rank duelists, I have to know about my 'servants'. This includes about themselves, but also about their situation at home," Emily explained.

_Yeah right, _the blond boy thought.

He knew why she was in his house.

On the transfer papers there was absolutely no information about him except for his address, phone number, name, birthdate and his dueling achievements.

But even that seemed to be a wrong thing to do now.

She just wanted information. Information he couldn't give.

He stood up from the sofa, taking Tyson with him. "I'm going to walk the dog."

"Brandon Kanbara! This girl is here for you," his mom informed. "You can't just walk out at your visitors like that. I'll walk Tyson."

The German Shepard didn't seem to care who walked with him, as long as it was someone. Even though he really liked Brandon. The boy always gave him plenty of food and attention.

The blond sat down again, an unamused expression on his face. "Fine."

And at the very moment his mother left the house to walk the dog, a large silence fell.

The blond never was much of a speaker anyway, so it didn't really bother him.

But Emily on the other hand thought it was awkward and thus started to look at the stuff in his house.

"Nice house you got," she said. "It's really spacious."

"Thanks," the blond answered. "It looks that way because it's just me, mom and Tyson."

_What about his father then...? _Emily wondered.

"How do you want me to call you?" the blond boy asked. Upon her frown, he explained. "Your the leader of S-Rank. I'm sure they don't call you by your first name."

"You're right," Emily confirmed. "And that's why you also can't do that. Just call me Captain, Leader, or something else like that."

"Got it, Cap."

She was actually really surprised. His attitude on the school and here...

It was so different. But she decided not to question it. It was probably because he wanted to leave some sort of impression because he's the new one.

Not that the impression he left was a good one... but still.

But she saw something that was strange to her. A photograph. Of Brandon and a older woman with long blonde hair. His mother.

It was a nice photograph, that's for sure. But... Where was his father on it?

"Nice photo... Did your father take it?"

The blond boy's eyes narrowed, his hands balling into fists. The expression on his face became one of intense anger.

Emily noticed it. The boy tried not to explode.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have asked," she apologized.

"It's fine," he assured. "You weren't able to know."

His expression slowly softened, but his serious expression still remained. "I take it that I made you wonder about it, right?"

She wasn't sure on what to answer. She wanted to know, but she didn't think it was good to stick her nose into this boy's business.

"You really want to know it. I can read it from your face," he said.

Can people read something like that?

"It's actually very easy," Brandon said. "That man... how can I say it without any unappropriate words...? Let's just say that, if he was dead, I wouldn't care the slightest bit. Instead, I would throw a party."

Throw a party? That was kind of harsh for the death of your own father.

"May I ask why?"

Emily didn't know what was going to happen. He could explode, he could refuse to give answer, or he could just calmly continue.

"When I was born, he just left," the boy replied. "And to be honest, I don't care that he left me. But that he left mom as a single wife with a job in care of a son. That hurts me the most."

He calmly continued. "Mom had to give up her job and search for one that made it easy for her to also raise me. And while she found one, it wasn't one that brought in a lot of money. My mom couldn't give me al the fancy stuff other kids got from their parents, but she tried to give me as much fun things as possible. It resulted in a lot of money being waisted in me."

"But you sure liked it, right?" Emily asked.

"Of course. As kid you always like it when you get stuff, but..." He closed his eyes for a bit, a small bit of sadness in his eyes. "I knew that mom couldn't give me much with the salary she had. And I understood that. But I didn't need all the stuff other kids got. I... I was just happy that mom loved me so much. She wanted to do so much for me... I really appreciate that."

"And that's why," he continued, "I will always support mom. She raised me as a single mom, without much money. And yet, I don't have the feeling I lack something. Instead, I have more than I yearned for."

He could see the puzzled look on Emily's face, urging him to explain even further. "Because my mom couldn't afford to buy all kind of expensive stuff for me, I know that I need to work hard if I want something. But she also raised me with the norm to help those who are in need. And the way that man left us... It also made it so that I promised myself that I would never leave people behind like that. Not the way he did it."

"You really don't like him," Emily stated.

"Don't like him?" Brandon repeated. "I despise him. If he were to die in front of my eyes, I wouldn't even try to help him. It might sound harsh to you, but to me it isn't."

"I understand it," Emily said. "Despite not experiencing what you have been through. After all, I live in a house of 4."

"And that's my point," the boy said. "A lot of people don't know how it is to grow up without a father. They judge without knowing things. That's why I'm glad that you do that, so thanks for that."

Did he just genuinely thank her? So he really is a nice guy. If only he showed that to the others of the S-Rank...

They then both heard a beep.

"Ah, that's mine." Emily took out the main body of her duel disk, accepting the phone call. "Yes? Ah Riley. Yes, I will come home right now."

She ended the call, putting away the duel disk's main body. "Well, I have to go home. Thanks for telling me this. I can keep it in account."

"Keep it in account?" The blond boy sighed. "I don't want you to treat me different just because I only grew up with a mother in my life. Just treat me like you treat everybody else. That's all I ask for."

Emily nodded upon his declaration. He was right. She shouldn't treat him different just because of that.

"I will see you tomorrow then. Even though you'll probably hide in that corner of yours," she laughed.

"Glad you realize that," he said. "See you later, Cap."

He took out his duel disk's main body when Emily left his house, immediately calling someone.

"Yo, Master. It's me. They are on my tail already," he said. "They want more personal information."

'What did you tell them?' he asked after hearing the boy's words.

"Nothing. I don't intend to tell them anything," the boy spoke.

'As long as you don't tell about our school or what you are doing on their school it's fine'," Master told him. 'On another note, do you already have information on the duelists that are going to participate?'

The boy shook his head. "Not yet. They don't seem to be preparing for it yet. I'll inform you as soon as I know something, Master."

'Good. Have a nice day, Brandon Kanbara.'

"You too, Master."

The call ended and Brandon put the main body of his duel disk away.

At that moment, Tyson tackled the poor boy to the ground.

The dog clearly wanted attention. Or food. Brandon still didn't know which of the two the dog desired when he did that.

* * *

><p>"Come on, everyone. Gather together," Kate ordered, clapping her hands to get the attention of everyone.<p>

Everyone gathered, except for Brandon who decided to stay in his corner. He only opened one eye out of curiosity.

"As you all know, it's coming closer. And it's something you really worked hard for," Kate said. "You are all registered, but**—**"

Chris continued from there. "In order to really participate, you must be qualified to enter. This means that some of you still have to go through qualification rounds. The one needs to complete more than the other, but that's just the way it is."

"The ones who don't need to qualify anymore are Emily, Michelle and Brandon," Kate said. "These three people have to worry about nothing. Try to help the others out if they need help for the qualifiers."

"He's already qualified?" Eldon asked.

"Help from him?" Daniel disgustingly asked. "I won't even think about it."

But one person took it as a golden opportunity.

"Yo."

"What is it?" Brandon asked upon the "yo", that was meant for him.

"Could you help me?"

Everyone looked at James with a shocked expression.

"Depends on what you need help for," the blond said, abandoning his laying position to take a stance.

"You're really asking for his help?" Stephanie asked. "And I thought you couldn't get any more stupid."

"James. Are you sure what you're doing?" Lamar asked.

"Don't even worry about it. He's good. I want to become stronger through his help," he explained.

James attention then fell on Brandon, answering the latter's question. "I just want to get better."

"In Action duels or normal duels?" he asked.

"Preferably Action,' James replied.

Brandon hid his hands inside his pockets, closing his eyes for a bit before answering. "I can help you with that. When do you want to start?"

"As fast as possible."

"Very well. I'll train you for as far as it's possible," Brandon said. "Anyone who wants too is free to join in."

He then walked towards the door, shifting his attention towards Kate and Chris. "Am I still needed here? I have some things I need to take care of."

"You're free to go," Kate answered.

"But don't forget to neglect the things you still need to do as practice," Chris warned. "Even if you're qualified, you still need to do it in order to get better."

"Got it. I'm off then," he said. "See you, teammates. I'll contact you about the training later, James."

"That's fine," he answered, while the others only growled.

"Is he even taking us serious?" Paris asked. "The nerve of that guy!"

Emily looked at the door the blond left through, a worrisome look in her eyes.

_What kind of things would he have to take care of at this time...?_

* * *

><p>The blond kneeled down in front of the stairs, his head hanging low.<p>

"Master. I've come to report."

"Ah. Brandon. Is it regarding the participators?" Master asked.

"Indeed. It seems all are registered," he said. "But there are only three duelists who don't need to qualify anymore."

"And those three are?"

"Myself, Michelle Victorrama and Emily Beaton."

"I see. We are coming with the Hyper Rank students and the only Master Rank duelist that's left in this school," Master informed.

"Only? You mean that one left?" the blond asked.

Master nodded. "Marcellos has been sent out on a similar mission as you."

"So Justin is still left," Brandon connected. "Now he finally has the spot he wanted."

"He's still number two. There won't be any changes in positions while you two are gone," Master said.

"How about the Hyper Rank duelists? Is that guy participating too?"

"That guy?" Master asked with a puzzled expression before he realized what he meant. "No. He isn't. He doesn't have any interest in that."

"What a weird guy," the boy snorted. "He's nothing like me."

"He isn't. He only looks like you. Don't forget that," Master warned. "That, and your names are similar."

"He's part of a group like that and yet, he has no intention to duel," Brandon said. "He's way too different from Jason."

"It's the same with you and Kai, isn't it?" Master asked, an amused smile on his face.

"I guess you can say that."

"Very well then. You're dismissed," Master said.

Brandon took a stance, bowed, and headed for the door. But he realized something else that Master needed to know.

"I'm going to train one of the people in there," he said. "I hope you don't mind."

"I really don't. It's only good that you form bonds with those people," Master said.

"I'm not forming bonds with them. I just do it because he asked me to," he said. "Besides, the faster they trust me the better."

"Just don't train them too good. We can't have one of them win," Master informed.

"I know."

With that, the blond left.

* * *

><p>James checked his watch again. He was supposed to meet him here, wasn't he?<p>

Did he really have the wrong location?

But that guy likes to be late. Out of all the S-Rank members he was the last to come, and mostly 10 minutes or later after they were supposed to meet!

Then he looked up when he saw someone approaching him.

"Ah, there you are! You're late, man."

"Is that so? Hahaha. I think you have the wrong man, man!"

The boy now became more visible to the point James could see his face.

That definitely wasn't the person he was waiting on.

"Boys. We have an intruder."

The other boys joined him, an evil grin on their faces.

"Now, now. Don't people know this is our territory too? You are the 4th this week..." one said.

"I didn't know. I'm supposed to meet someone here," James answered.

He wasn't looking for trouble, it just wasn't in his nature. He was the one that caused it for others, getting caught up in it wasn't destined for him.

"Seems that person knows this is our territory," the other said. "But you can't just leave... You're an intruder after all."

"And that means...?" James asked.

"It's easy," the leader said. "You duel me. If you win, you can go."

"And if I lose?"

"Then you can also leave, but you will probably leave here scared."

James took out his own duel disk, activating it once it was on his arm. "Fine with me."

The leader grinned evilly. "Very well then!"

"DUEL!"

* * *

><p><strong>Belated merry christmas everyone! I hope you all enjoyed yourselves!<strong>

**I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and I wish all of you a nice day.  
><strong>

**See ya!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

><p>Take flight! Synchro summon!<p>

* * *

><p>"Kai and those stupid antics of his...!"<p>

The blond growled once again. It's known about him that he's never on time, but this late? No, that was Kai's fault.

He was supposed to meet James 20 minutes ago. That guy would probably be gone already.

He went around the corner, approaching the meeting place.

There were people. That was a good sign.

But when he came so close that he could identify the people, he realized that it wasn't a good sign at all.

He saw James falling on the ground with his duel disk on.

Then he looked at the ones who caused it.

"You can't be serious...!" he muttered.

The three morons that harassed Emily and Riley. Great, just great.

Wait. What was that guy doing?

"If you would have taken me serious from the start, this wouldn't be happening," the leader spoke.

"Would what not be happening?" James asked.

The leader forcefully took James deck, holding it in his hand.

"Give that back!" James ordered.

He tried to take it back, but he got held back by the two henchmen.

"This is what happens when you lose a duel to me in **our** territory," the leader spoke, about to demonstrate what he meant.

And that was were Brandon got filled with rage.

He tore it. He tore James' deck in two right in front of his nose.

And he even had the guts to throw the loose pieces into the air, only to be carried away by the wind.

"My deck!?"

"Tearing someone's deck in two is low, even for you!"

The four people turned their heads towards the origin of the voice, a blond boy with anger in his eyes approaching them.

"Bla, bla, bla," the leader taunted. "You guys are such crybabies! He invaded our territory on own risk. He knew this was going to happen!"

"'Crybabies'?" Brandon repeated. "I still remember the moment you three ran away from me."

"That was then!" one of the henchmen said.

"This is now!" the other said. "We now are so strong that we don't have to fear you anymore!"

"That's right, Kanbara-chan! We can beat you!" the leader boasted.

The blond readied his duel disk, placing his deck inside the deck holder. "Come on then. All three of you."

The two henchmen looked at each other, before a grin appeared on their face.

The leader raised an eyebrow. "Big talk for someone who gets upset over some cards getting ripped."

"Don't worry. You'll be the one who's upset after I'm done with you guys," the blond threatened. "Or are you scared already?"

The two henchmen took out their own duel disks, taking place next to the leader.

The leader himself had a smug grin on his face, raising his duel disk so that it was in front of him. "You'll be the one getting scared!"

""DUEL!""

* * *

><p>"Tempest, Tidal, Redox, Blaster! Finish this! Gale Hurricane, Tsunami Maelstrom, Boulder Basher, Volcano Frenzy!"<p>

The four dragons attacked when the orders were given, completely ravaging the duel field.

?: ? → 0

?: ? → 0

?: ? → 0

The three fell back, expressions of horror present on their field.

"Impossible!" the leader went. "How is this even possible!?"

James watched it all with amazement. He already had trouble beating the leader, but Brandon easily defeated all three of them at the same time!

Brandon took a step towards the three of them, but they crawled backwards.

"Please! Have mercy!" one of the two henchmen begged.

"Yeah! He's making us do this!" the other said, pointing to their leader.

"Hey, hey... Can't we just talk about this...?

The leader desperately tried to make a mend, but Brandon couldn't be bothered.

"No, we can't. You tore his deck in two. A deck is the soul of a duelist, that what represents him or her," Brandon spoke. "For you to do something like that. I can't forgive you for that."

Sweat started to form on their foreheads, and they quickly crawled back once again. "RUN!"

Upon the sign of the leader, they all got up, running away to spare their own lives.

"You're lucky you're not worth following," the blond spoke. He turned to James, immediately apologizing. "I'm sorry about what happened because of me."

"They tore my deck apart, not you," James corrected.

"True. But because you needed to wait for me, this all happened," Brandon explained. "Allow me to make up for it."

"Don't even worry about it," James responded. "I'll find a new deck soon enough."

"No. It's my fault so I will make up for it," the blond insisted. "I will create a new deck for you."

The guy was very insisting and James guessed that he wouldn't win this and thus he agreed to it. "If you want that, then that's fine."

Upon that, the blond smirked. "Good."

But then he remembered something else and he took his own deck out of the deck holder. "Here."

"Are you giving me yours?!"

James wasn't sure what to do. He had seen those cards in action and they were strong. He wouldn't be able to handle those.

"Of course not. But you need to train somehow. I allow you to use my deck for that," Brandon said, handing James the deck. "Just be careful with it."

James nodded, taking the deck out of Brandon's hand.

He immediately felt a huge power coming from it, something he had never seen or felt with a card or deck before.

Brandon noticed James' strange behavior, making him raise an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

James made a dismissing hand movement. "Everything's fine."

He placed the deck in the deck holder of his own duel disk, ready to start the training. "What do I have to do?"

"Draw a card and place it on the arm blade," replied Brandon.

James did as told, changing his attention back to the blond once he was done. "And now?"

"Just continue that," Brandon said.

"Continue that?" James asked, a puzzled expression present on his face.

"Until I tell you to stop."

The blond boy settled himself in the shadow of a big tree, laying down in the grass with his arms behind his head.

"But why?"

"You'll see eventually."

James shrugged, if this was to make him better, then he would do that.

Because he knew that he needed to get better. The duel against that gangleader has only proven that.

And so, James' training began by constantly drawing a card and placing it on the arm blade.

* * *

><p>"How was your training yesterday?"<p>

Lamar's question made everyone turn towards James.

If he would tell them, they would clearly laugh at him. All he had done was draw a card and place it on his duel disk for hours.

"It... was good! It was good, but really exhausting," he answered.

"Oh really?"

Paris got closer to his face. She knew James was lying, the exaggerating hand movements of his gave him away.

"Then tell us what he made you do," Paris ordered. "Maybe we can get better from it too."

"If you want that, you should just train with him too," James answered.

"But what if we don't want that?" Paris asked. "The guy has an ego bigger than this whole city. Nobody likes him. If we can get stronger by his training, without him training us, it would be beneficial for us all!"

Normally, he was good with words, but James didn't know what to say this time. Someone really needed to come to his rescue.

At that moment, Brandon walked in, throwing his bag with the other backs. He sought eye contact with James, the blond's head movement urging James to come over to him.

"Gotta go."

James sent a playful smile towards the group, before going to the blond boy.

"Yo. What's up?"

The blond crossed his arms, closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. "I think I have an idea for a deck for you."

"Really?" James asked with a raised eyebrow. This guy was faster with duel related things than with other things. "That's great!"

Brandon nodded. "Is their anything specific that needs to be in there?"

"Not really. As long as it kicks ass!"

"And you're specialized in Fusion? So that has to be in your extra deck, I take it?"

"Actually," James began, "put in it what you think is necessary. Fusion, Synchro or Xyz. I'm fine with it."

A smirk painted Brandon's features. "I guess I have to train you how to use Synchro and Xyz then, but that's fine."

Then James extended his fist.

Brandon frowned. He knew what it was. Men often did that as a sign of their friendship. Did this guy really see him as a friend already?

Brandon returned the favor, their knuckles clashing. He then quickly hid his hands in his pockets, preparing to head towards his beloved corner. "Don't tell anyone about what I'm doing for you. Otherwise they will all want a deck. Can't be bothered with that."

"Got it."

Upon that answer, Brandon walked towards his corner, but Paris halted him. "Hey, you!"

The blond slowly turned towards her, his stone hard gaze making her think things over. "What do you want?"

"James is acting weird, so I want to know what you taught him yesterday," she casually spoke.

"That's none of your business." The blond's glare seemed to bore through her soul, but Paris didn't get scared from just that. "Now, if everyone could leave me alone right now, that would be much appreciated."

"Or you are just afraid to tell us. Seems you're not so though as you try to make us believe," Paris taunted. She clearly tried to provoke him. "Just a poor little boy on the inside."

"What is it with people in here constantly picking fights they can't win?" muttered the blond. "If this is your way of finding a challenge, then you've found one."

The boy took out his duel disk, activating it once it was around his arm.

Paris smirked. It wasn't her intention to challenge him, but she wanted to duel him to see if he really was that good at one point. And thus, she didn't let the opportunity slip.

She readied her own duel disk, fire burning in her eyes. "Let's go then."

""DUEL!""

* * *

><p>"My turn!"<p>

Paris decided to make the first move, summoning a monster from her hand. "I summon Gem-Knight Saphire in defense position!"

Gem-Knight Saphire, Level 4, 0/2100

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Paris was satisfied. With Saphire in defense position, it was almost impossible for Brandon to do something. There was no way a level 4 or below monster could have more attack than Saphire's defense.

But she knew he was dangerous. That's also the reason why she summoned Saphire, instead of going offensive.

"My turn. Draw."

The boy added his card to his hand, immediately discarding 2 others. "I discard Stream and Alexandridragon to special summon the Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls - Tidal from my deck."

The water materialized from water, making an entrance with a roar.

Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls - Tidal, Level 7, 2600/2000

"Then I banish Stream and Alexandridragon from my graveyard," Brandon announced, a heavy wind blowing over the field. "To special summon Dragon Ruler of Storms - Tempest from my hand."

Dragon Ruler of Storms - Tempest, Level 7, 2400/2200

**"Level 7 Tidal, Tempest, overlay!" **Brandon ordered, the two dragons disappearing into the Overlay Network. **"With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network. Xyz summon! Descend, Gaia Dragoon, the Thunderclap Knight!"**

A knight clad in red armor on a dragon that was also clad in red armor descended out of the Overlay Network, readying its lances.

Gaia Dragoon, the Thunderclap Knight, Rank 7, 2600/2100, Overlay Units: 2

"Gaia Dragoon, attack Saphire," Brandon ordered, Gaia Dragoon's lance getting engulfed in thunder.

The knight gave orders to the dragon, roaring off towards Saphire, stabbing it with his lance.

Paris: 4000 → 3500

Brandon noticed the shocked expression on Paris' face, forcing him to explain. "Gaia Dragoon is able to inflict piercing damage. Putting up a defense is unable now."

Paris took a step back. Did that guy have an answer on every move the opponent made?

"Turn end."

**Paris: 3500, Cards x3**

**Brandon: 4000, Cards x4**

"My turn! Draw!" Paris smirked as she played her magic card. This would show him to not act so high and mighty. "I activate Gem-Knight Fusion, fusing Emeral and Roumaline!"

A green-armored warrior and a yellow-armored warrior disappeared into the swirling vortex, Paris starting her chant.

**"Brilliant emerald of good fortune! Gem tingled with lightning! In a whirlpool of light, combine to bring forth a new sparkling radiance! Fusion summon! Appear, Gem-Knight Prism Aura!"**

A warrior with gems on his shield appeared on the field, a cape draped over his shoulders while his hair was tied into a ponytail.

Gem-Knight Prism Aura, Level 7, 2450/1400

"Gem-Knight's with Fusion's and everything. Not bad," Brandon admitted. "But can you use them to their fullest extent?"

"Of course. What's that for stupid question?" sneered Paris.

The blond smirked at her. "Gem-Knights are good cards. But by using them to their fullest extent they can be even stronger."

Paris gritted her teeth. This guy had no right to talk about her monsters!

"I activate Prism Aura's effect! By discarding a Gem-Knight card from my hand, I can destroy one face-up card on the field!" Paris explained. "Prism Aura, destroy Gaia Dragoon!"

Prism Aura slashed through Gaia Dragoon with its sword, the dragon crying out in pain as it got destroyed.

"Now, Prism Aura, direct attack!" Paris ordered.

The gems on Prism Aura's shield started to glow, the energy channeling into its sword. Once enough energy had gathered, he slashed Brandon with his sword, his life lowering drastically.

Brandon: 4000 → 1550

"Turn end," she sassily said.

Brandon said nothing while he drew his card, slapping it on the monster card zone. "When my opponent controls a monster when there are no monsters on my field, I can special summon Vice Dragon from my hand with its attack and defense halved."

A black dragon with thick claws appeared on the field, taking an offensive stance.

Vice Dragon, Level 5, 1000/1200

"Then I normal summon the level 2 Tuner monster Dread Dragon."

A brown, small-winged dragon with purple dreads appeared next to Vice Dragon, making everyone gasp.

Dread Dragon, Level 2, 1100/400

"A Tuner monster..." Michelle repeated

"Then that means..." Riley started.

"A Synchro summon..." Chloe finished.

**"I tune the level 5 Vice Dragon with the level 2 Dread Dragon,"** Brandon declared, Vice Dragon flying through green rings that Dread Dragon had created. **"Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings, guided by the winds of faith! Strike down at those who oppose us at light speed! Synchro summon! Come forth, clear part of my soul! Level 7! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"**

A white mechanical dragon appeared on the field, its wings shining brilliantly.

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, Level 7, 2500/2000

"Clear Wing, attack Prism Aura!" Brandon ordered. "Hell Dive Whirlwind Slasher!"

The dragon flew up into the air, its wings emitting an intense glow. It then dove down towards Prism Aura, starting to spin around while heading for it, getting the dragon cloaked into a strong whirlwind.

But the attack of the dragon got halted by Paris' trap card: Attack Nullification.

"Attack Nullification negates your attack and end the battle phase," Paris explained.

Brandon closed his eyes for a brief moment out of acceptance and ended his turn. "Turn end."

**Paris: 3500, Cards x0**

**Brandon: 1550, Cards x3**

"My turn! Draw! I activate Prism Aura's effect by discarding Gem-Knight Alexand!"

Prism Aura was about to slash the dragon with its sword, but Clear Wing's wings started to glow, emitting beams from it towards Prism Aura. Prism Aura got destroyed once the beams made contact.

"What!?" Paris went. "How!?"

"Clear Wing's effect: Dichroic Mirror," Brandon replied. "When a level 5 or higher monster is targeted by a monster effect, I can negate that effect and destroy that monster."

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon then roared, its power increasing.

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon: 2500 → 4950

"After the monster's destruction, Clear Wing's attack increases with the same amount as the destroyed monster's," Brandon explained.

Paris took a step back. She was done for. She had nothing left in her hand anymore.

This guy had just defeated her without even trying. How strong was this guy?

And then she unwillingly declared it with gritted teeth. "Turn end."

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon: 4950 → 2500

Brandon drew his card, adding it to his hand. "I activate Giganticize, doubling Clear Wing's attack because my life is lower than yours. Battle phase."

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon: 2500 → 5000

Synchro Dragon roared at that declaration, once again flying up in the air, diving towards Paris, a cloak of wind being formed around it.

"Hell Dive Whirlwind Slasher!"

At that moment, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon dove towards Paris, slamming into her. Paris was unable to stay on her feet and fell backwards.

Paris: 3500 → 0

**Brandon: WIN**

Brandon's duel disk deactivated, enabling him to put it away.

He then placed his hands in his pockets, heading towards his destination: the corner of the room.

Everyone watched him go, all flabbergasted. Pendulum, Xyz, and now Synchro. How did this guy know so many different summonings?

Just who was Brandon Kanbara...?

* * *

><p><strong>"Pendulum summon!"<strong>

The silver-haired teen summoned forth three copies of the same monster. He declared an attack with them, lowering the opponent's life.

The turn then went to the simulator, but the simulator was unable to do any harm to the teen and thus it quickly ended its turn.

The boy then drew his card, adding it to his hand.

But at that moment the blue columns of light viciously started to shake, destroying everything on the field.

It caused the scientist in the observation room to stop to procedure, fearing for the teen's life if he remained in there.

After smashing on a lot of buttons, they finally managed to stop the procedure. The head scientist then entered the room the silver-haired teen was located.

"As I thought, the Pendulum monsters aren't ready yet," the teen mused, holding the two cards in his hand.

"They're not ready yet. But it seems you don't necessarily need them," the scientist spoke. "You were beating the simulator easily."

The teen then shot a look towards the simulator, imaginating it to to really be his rival.

"No," he then answered, making the scientist frown. "Brandon Kanbara wouldn't go down so easily. His style of dueling is unable to be simulated, even when we're simulating the cards he uses. Pendulum monsters are necessary to duel him on an equal level."

"In that case, me and my team shall do everything we can in order to perfect the Pendulum monsters, sir," the scientist spoke.

The silver-haired teen handed the scientists the cards, a thankful smile present on his face. "Please do."

He then left the room, heaving a heavy sigh. The combination of running a whole corporation, a school and being an elite duelist certainly sure was hard.

Brandon Kanbara could consider himself lucky for only being an elite duelist.

* * *

><p><strong>The title is a homage to the Synchro summon of Stardust Dragon from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, whereas the term 'Take flight' is used to call it out. <strong>

**This has been done because Clear Wing Synchro Dragon and Stardust Dragon both have similar effects, are both Dragon-type monsters with the Wind attribute, both have 2500 ATK and 2000 DEF and both, in the anime, are used by major characters using D-Wheels.**

**I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I wish all of you a nice day.**

**I also hope you will also all have an amazing 2015. It's a new year, so make it the best one.**

**See ya!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

><p>Who wants to duel us?!<p>

* * *

><p>"Unbelievable! I can't believe I lost to a guy with a dragon fetish!" Paris whined. "And he didn't even make an effort!"<p>

"It's only one loss," Stephanie said. "It's not like Kate will kick you of A-Rank right now."  
>"But still!" Paris protested. "I wouldn't mind if he made an effort to beat me, but he didn't! He didn't even use a magic or trap card!"<p>

"He did use Synchro summon," Cloe reminded. "That means that he needed a strong monster to beat you, so there is some bit of effort in it..."

"That's not bad for someone with a dragon fetish, is it?" joked Emily. "But for real, he's probably the best duelist out of all of us. Being able to use Synchro, Xyz and even Pendulum, which is said to only be a myth... You have to be strong to pull that off."

"He's probably able to use Fusion too," Chloe commented. "It was the easiest to pull of according to him anyway."

"Don't count on it," Stephanie replied. "If he looks at Fusion summoning like that, then he won't use it."

And while the girls continued their talk, Emily noticed that Riley hasn't said much since the beginning of the talk. Instead, she has constantly been in deep thoughts.

Emily elbowed her sister lighty, awakening her out of train of deep thoughts. "Ah. Emily."

"What's wrong?" Emily asked. She was slightly concerned about Riley. She knew that when Riley acted like this, that something troubled her.

_**"Synchro summon! Come forth, clear part of my soul! Level 7! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"**_

"Nothing," she answered. Emily didn't need to unnecessarily worry for her.

"You're bothered about his monster, isn't it?" Emily guessed, trying to ensure her. "It's not weird that you are. It was a strong monster."

"It's not the monster," Riley denied. "But it's the way he summoned it. His Synchro summon looked so... powerful, great, amazing even!"

"You have to admit, it really looked like that," Stephanie said, elbowing Paris, who agreed.

"Despite my loss and all, it really looked amazing," Paris admitted.

"But what about it?" Chloe asked. "You're a Synchro user too. I don't really see a reason for you to be upset about it."

"And that's the problem!" Riley exclaimed. "He's a Synchro user too! And a very good one! Mine looks so..."

Stephanie tried to finish her sentence. "So unconvincing?"

"Yeah..."

Riley's expression fell. She really was greatly affected by it.

But Emily wouldn't be a good sister for Riley if she didn't come up with the perfect solution.

"Just ask him to help you."

"You're also starting to say that?" Paris asked. "Miss Kate and Chris already said that too."

"Kate said that the people who are already qualified need to help out the people who aren't," Emily spoke. "And he's already qualified and Riley's not."

"But what if he doesn't want to help me?" Riley asked. "I mean, he sure has better things to do than teach me something like that!"

"He's already training James," Stephanie said. "I'm sure that somebody doesn't have anything to do when you start to train James for something."

"But what if he doesn't want to?" Riley then asked. "He seems to care about nothing."

"He cares about training James," Paris answered.

"But it's easier for a guy to do a favor for a guy," Riley went. "That's just the way guys do things!"

"Riley. Don't worry so much," Emily spoke. "I'm sure that he's willing to help you. He's a nice guy. Remember when he helped us before?"

Riley thought back for a moment. It was true. He had helped them when those three boys harrassed her and Emily.

"I do," Riley admitted. "But that was something different."

"It might be," Emily admitted. "But he had no valid reason to help us. He could have just walked along."

"Yeah, but—"

"No buts. You're going to ask him to help you," Emily ordered, a playful smile painting her features. "Or else I will."

Emily left no room for further arguing, and thus, Riley agreed with a sigh.

"Fine. But if he says no, then I won't try again!"

* * *

><p>"Brandon Kanbara, you're here again?" Master chuckled. "You sure like this place."<p>

"Of course I do. This place is my home," Brandon responded. "But I came to report about that other place."

"Speak," Master ordered.

"Another Fusion archetype is used in there," the boy spoke. "And a rather good one."

"And what might that good archetype be?" Master asked.

"Gem-Knights."

"First Elemental Heroes, now Gem-Knights..." Master held his chin, thinking for a small bit. "They sure have some of the best Fusion archetypes available."

Brandon agreed through a nod. "Unfortunately, they aren't able to use the archetypes to their fullest extent yet. The Gem-Knights were an easy target for Clear Wing."

Master frowned. "So you already showed them Synchro summon too?"

"Indeed. I won't hide it if it's necessary for me in a duel," explained the blond. "Besides, Odd-Eyes and Dark Rebellion already had some fun while Clear Wing needed to sit out."

Master chuckled. "It's good to know that you still feel a strong connection with your cards."

"Cards? They are part of my soul," Brandon corrected. "It's only natural for me to have a strong connection with them."

Master smiled inwardly. It was good to know that the Brandon Kanbara from now wasn't any much different from the one he met 8 years ago.

But then he thought of something that he had been thinking about for quite some time now.

"How many people are in that S-Rank of Your Move Duel School?" Master asked.

Brandon needed some time to remember every person that was in there and to count them. He had never been a genius in math. Even simple math like this gave him a major headache.

After he finally had the answer, he said it. "Ten. That excludes myself."

"I have been thinking for some time," Master revealed. "It will take quite some time for you to keep an eye on every duelist in there and to investigate them good."

"That's true," Brandon agreed. "But what do you want to do about it?"

"It's easy actually. I want to see their skills too," Master admitted. "And therefore, I want to propose something to Your Move."

Brandon tilted his for a moment, looking at the back of Master's chair. "And what might that be?"

"A duel. Not just one, but multiple," Master explained. "We can see how the Hyper Rank duelists are getting on while you and I can see how good the S-Rank duelists of Your Move really are."

"Sounds interesting." Brandon hung his head low again. "Any specific duelists that you want to know about?"

"Not really," Master said. "But that's mostly because I don't really know them. How about you?"

The boy smirked. "To be honest, I would love to see Michelle and Emily in action. And James. But I doubt his deck will be ready before that time."

"Perhaps is James the boy you're training?" Master asked, eyebrows raised. "And what's that about a deck being ready?"

"Indeed. He's quite dedicated," Brandon said. "And about that deck... Well, his got tore apart by three weirdos."

"I see. And thus he's still creating a new one?"

Brandon shook his head. "Not really. I am."

Master raised an eyebrow. "You're actually doing that? I'm impressed."

"Thank you," the boy thanked.

"Creating him a dragon deck too?" Master asked out of curiosity. He knew how much Brandon loved dragons. If the blond boy had the possibility to choose between money and fame or dragons, he would still choose dragons without even thinking.

"Not really. I've heard that he's someone who doesn't take his duels serious until he's further in it," Brandon explained. "Therefore, I'm creating a deck that, even when he kicks back in the beginning, is still able to win."

"I see." Master brought his fingers to his chin again, a small silence following. "Any cards that you still need?"

"Actually, that's something I also wanted to talk to you about, Master."

And from what Master understood, it was something Marcellos wouldn't be happy about.

* * *

><p>"Come on, everyone!"<p>

Kate clapped her hands again. A sign that everybody needed to gather.

"We have exciting news for you!" Chris informed.

Everyone gathered in the middle of the room, hence for Brandon. He preferred to stay in his corner. It was cosy and nobody bothered him. Just the way he liked it.

"Everyone here?" Kate counted the heads, and when she saw that everyone was present, she clasped her hands together. "Perfect. We can announce the great news then!"

"What's the big news, Miss Kate?" Emily asked.

"We gained an invitation from a school for a some sort of small tournament," Kate explained.

Chris continued from there. "And because we saw it as a good chance for you to get better, we decided to accept the invitation."

"Where's the invitation from?" asked Emily.

"It's from All-Star Trinity."

Everyone gasped. "ALL-STAR TRINITY!?"

"That's like one of the top schools in the region!" Eldon said.

"Even the whole country!" West corrected.

"And it even has some influence in foreign countries!" Riley finished.

"Why would that school want to duel against us?" Stephanie asked, not really convinced that a school like that just wanted to duel.

"Sounds fun though," James admitted. "Dueling against some of the best in the country is dope, man!"

Paris raised an eyebrow at James statement. "Best in the country is a little bit farfetched, don't you think?"

"It isn't. They really are good."

All head's in the room turned towards the corner. Brandon's corner to be exact.

The boy took a stance, hiding his hands in his pockets. "Many of the students there are able to enter into the higher levels of the pro league. Besides that, it's a school that has quite some international name and fame with it. So you can literally say that it's the best in this whole country, together with LDS ofcourse."

"How do you know that?" Eldon asked.

"Some acquaintances of mine attend that school as Hyper Rank duelists. They tell me quite a lot about that school," answered the blond.

"So Hyper Rank... Is it high?" Michelle asked.

"High? It's one of the best ranks to achieve in there," Brandon said as a matter of fact. "There is the Normal Rank, Bronze Rank, Silver Rank, Gold Rank, Platina Rank, Diamond Rank, Hyper Rank and Master Rank."

"And our rank? To which rank is it comparable?" Daniel asked.

"From what I've seen from you guys, and from what I've seen from their Hyper Rank duelists, I would probably say..." Brandon paused before answering. He decided to carefully choose his words, but he knew that even if he brought it careful, that they would still be annoyed, amazed, shocked, or a combination of the three. "Probably their third rank. The Silver Rank."

"SILVER RANK!?"

"One of their lowest ranks is just as strong as our highest?" Chloe asked in disbelief.

Brandon nodded. "That's how good that school is. It mostly exists out of extraordinary duelists who have won a lot of youth tournaments."

"But we are quite good too, or else we wouldn't be in S-Rank," Stephanie said.

"That's right. But S-Rank is your limit, so it might be possible that there is someone in this room who exceeds the level of their Silver Rank. But like I said, because S-Rank is the top here, that's hard for me to know," explained the blond. He then shifted his attention towards Kate. "Miss Kate. Am I allowed to give my opinion about this all?"

Kate frowned for a bit. "Of course you can. You're a part of this group too."

Brandon nodded. "Thank you. To be honest, I think it's a good thing for us to duel them. It's good to gain some experience. It always is when you duel against the best. But it's also a good opportunity to see where we stand, what needs to be improved, and what's good the way it is."

Everyone looked at him in astonishment. Did he just speak in the we-perspective?

Brandon noticed the silence. Normally there would be people going in against his opinion, but this time there was nothing.

"Does this mean everyone agrees or disagrees with me...?"

"He's right. We from S-Rank need to work even harder to up our game!" Emily said. "Therefore, why are you all standing here like that? Get to your training everyone!"

"Train even harder...?" Daniel muttered.

"As if we're not trying hard enough..." West sighed.

"This is just insane, man..." James whined.

"We will be taking them on in a week," Kate finished. "Make sure you're ready by then!"

Everyone then went back to their training while Emily as leader of the S-Rank surveilled everything.

Brandon returned to his corner for another peaceful day. That guy was probably the only person in the whole room who never did training. Not even the slightest bit. All he did was enter the room, throw his bag with the others, lay down in his corner with his arms behind his head for the rest of the day and then leave towards home. The next day, everything continued again. It was a never ending cycle.

And besides James, who the blond occasionally called over, there wasn't really anybody who had contact with him. Mostly because they didn't like him, were scared of him, or just didn't notice he was there.

But this time it was different.

Riley stopped in front of him, making the blond pop an eye open.

A smirk painted his features, while his second eye opened. "Can I help you, Riley?"

"Actually..." She looked down at the ground, nervously fidgeting with her fingers. "I, uhm..."

Brandon raised an eyebrow. "You what? You can just say it. I won't bite you. Even if people in here think I will."

"I actually need your help with something," Riley said, after a lot of nervous fidgeting and stammering. "And it's about Synchro summoning."

"Something that highly interests me," Brandon said, a small sparkle in his eyes. It was really unusual for Riley, because he either had his eyes closed or a very serious, threatening gaze in them. But it was a nice change for the time being. "Want to learn it too?"

"Not learn it. I already know it actually," she informed. "It's just that... I need some help with honing it."

"Honing it? But you already know how to use it, right?"

Riley gave a quick nod. "Yeah. But your Synchro summoning was really different from mine."

"And you want me to help you hone your skills in Synchro so that it comes closer to my style of Synchro?" Brandon finished for her.

"So that it can become just as good as your style of Synchro," Riley corrected.

Brandon smirked again, taking a sitting position, abandoning his laying position for it. "Very well. I like Synchro summoning and you're actually a nice person, so I will train you."

A smile started to spread on Riley's feature. Brandon was sure he even saw a small sparkle in her eyes. "Really?"

He nodded. "You can tag along with James."

"With James...?"

"Don't worry. You won't be doing the same," he said with an amused smirk. "Even though he would wish it was the same."

"Yeah..."

Riley was aware of it that James often flirted with her. It happened more often than she would like. And she didn't really like it.

James was annoying, sticked his nose in other people's business whenever he likes, shows off when he has the chance and he also probably is the most irresponsible being in the city and is a big player in general. Never, ever, could Riley possibly like someone like that.

Then she suddenly bowed, making Brandon frown out of surprise. "You don't have to bow for me, you know. A 'thank you' is enough for me."

Riley straightened herself, a small blush of embarrassment present. "Right. Thank you very much."

Brandon sent a smirk her way, saying, "No problem."

Riley shot a thankful smile before leaving him alone. A thing that was necessary, because Emily was being strict like always.

"Riley! No slacking off!" she shouted.

"Sorry. I needed to take care of something," Riley explained.

Emily knew what she was talking about and decided to let it slip. Just for now. After all, she was the one to suggest that.

But the other's didn't escape her strictness either.

"Come on, James! Take things more seriously!"

"West! What are you doing?!"

"Stop staring at me like that, Eldon!"

"Michelle! Have you even been paying attention to what you needed to do!?"

"I'm not doing anything wrong?" she replied immediately.

"'I'm not doing anything wrong?'" Emily repeated, quite ridiculed. "'I'm not doing anything wrong!?' You're doing everything wrong!"

"But we needed to this from Chris..." Michelle replied.

"And I'm the captain. If I say you're doing it wrong. Then you're doing it wrong!"

Emily got dangerously close towards Michelle. Her expression mixed with both anger and annoyance while Michelle didn't really know what to do or say.

"Got it," Michelle simply said before resuming her training.

Then Chloe suddenly walked towards the door, making Emily frown. "And what are you doing?"

"I... have to... do stuff," Chloe responded after some hesitation.

"'Stuff'"? Emily repeated, crossing her arms. "And what might that 'stuff' be?"

"I can't tell you that... ...I'm sorry!" She then quickly grabbed her bag and left the room, heading to god knows where.

"Why is she acting so strange?" Stephanie wondered.

"I don't know," Paris answered. "But what I don't know is that she doesn't fully go for S-Rank!"

Brandon had watched it all from his corner. He saw that there were a lot of things going on in the group, now that he actually started to pay attention to the group. He was sure that if he didn't do that, he still wouldn't have noticed.

He smirked. Maybe he didn't need to do anything to destroy this school from the inside.

After all, they seemed to be perfectly capable of it at their own.

* * *

><p><strong> Guest who called me a moron. Thank you very much for the compliment. Really appreciate it. But through the effect of Stream, who has been mentioned, Tidal can be special summoned from the deck.<strong>

**Tension between S-Rank is rising and it's actually not Brandon's doing. Hooray.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I wish all of you a nice day.**

**See ya!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

><p>Screams from the dark versus melodies from the heavens!<p>

* * *

><p>"And look! That's where I mostly go to chill with my friends! Oh, and that food stand over there has some of the best food available!"<p>

Riley rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. Tagging along with James was worse than she had thought.

She could handle his flirting. She was used to that by now after all.

But telling her things that didn't really matter to her, that annoyed her. She had training to do. They had to meet up with Brandon 20 minutes ago!

James only was a nuisance to her. This was, once again, evidence of that.

"James! We have to meet up with Brandon!" Riley said. "At this rate, it will last an hour before we meet up with him!"

"Don't even worry about it! He's late himself all the time," James replied. "I'm sure he's not there yet."

"You're sure of everything! Well, guess what, you aren't!" Riley snapped. "You're not right of things, you're annoying, you don't take anything serious, you're irresponsible, you're—"

James fell strangely silent. Because of that, Riley stopped her rant, looking at him.

He looked back.

"I understand," James said. "Let's just keep walking."

James walked ahead of her, while Riley stood still.

"Did it actually bother him?" she wondered.

She quickly shrugged it off, following James towards the meeting place.

* * *

><p>"You're here."<p>

Brandon took a stance, walking towards them from his spot underneath the three. "We can begin then."

Riley frowned. "You're not mad that we're late?"

"I'm always late myself," Brandon answered. "It would be hypocritical to say something about being late to other people."

He then changed his attention towards James. "You know what to do."

James nodded, immediately going to work. He got used to Brandon's way of communicating, but not yet to the reason for doing what he did as training. But if Brandon said that he needed to do that, then he was sure it was useful for something. Hopefully.

Which left Riley alone, not knowing what to do.

"Show me."

She frowned once again. Show him what?

"What exactly?" she asked.

"Synchro summoning," he answered. "Your Synchro summon. I can only help you if I know what needs working on."

"Right." Riley nodded, activating her duel disk, taking out a number of cards.

She quickly showcased her Synchro summon, awaiting the blond's reaction.

"It looks good," he complimented. "But I think I've found the problem."

"Is it a small problem or a big problem...?"

Brandon closed his eyes for a bit. It wasn't such a big problem. It was just that...

"You lack confidence."

She frowned once again, her lips parting a bit.

"I'm overconfident, up to the point where people start to see it as arrogance," Brandon began. "But you lack confidence, affecting your style of dueling. You doubt in what monster you should Synchro summon. Your monsters feel that, you know."

Riley then shot a look towards her duel disk, her deck in the deck holder. "My monsters feel it?"

"My monsters feel my confidence in them burning. Therefore, they descend upon the field full of power and confidence themselves," Brandon explained. "If you doubt about which monster to use, or if it's better to use another monster as example, then they feel it. A deck feeds on the feeling of the owner. If the owner puts all their faith in their deck, the deck will repay that. If you don't care about you're deck and only see them as cards, they will never repay you."

But it were just cards. How could they do things like feeling confidence?

"Duel Monsters is more than just 'a card game' as people say it. And I know that you think that it's a card game too," Brandon said. "However, I think that every card has a spirit in it. One stronger than the other. It just needs a suitable partner to bring it out."

He then took out a number of cards, placing all of them on his duel disk.

Tempest, Tidal, Redox and Blaster descended upon the field with loud roars.

"These 4 dragons are just 4 of the many monsters I place my confidence in," Brandon began. "And I want you to beat them with your monsters. If you doubt about Synchro summoning a certain card, I will feel and know it through them. It doesn't have to be quick. As long as you get stronger from it, it's fine. Even if it will take days."

Riley nodded. Tempest, Tidal, Redox and Blaster were, from what she knew, 4 of the strongest creatures that resided in his deck. If she managed to get rid of those, or even give them a hard time, she knew that her Synchro summon was good enough.

**"Synchro summon!"**

And so it began.

* * *

><p>"Can you believe her? 'I did nothing wrong'," Stephanie repeated, imitating Michelle.<p>

"Clearly she did something wrong," Paris said.

"Yeah, but don't you think you've been a little bit too harsh on her, Emily?" Chloe butted in.

"I wasn't harsh on her. This was good for her," Emily responded. "Michelle needs to realize that she has to stop acting the way she does."

"Then you should shout on that other guy too," Stephanie spoke. "He doesn't do a thing, but when he does, it's something he isn't supposed to do."

"But she won't do that because she's taken a liking to him," Paris joked with a sly smile. "Or it's just a trick so that she can keep her feelings for Eldon hidden."

Emily raised an eyebrow at that. "Eldon? Not even the slightest chance."

"We know, girl. No need to take it so serious," Paris answered.

"Yeah. There's no way a dork like Eldon would get a girlfriend," Stephanie added.

"But she didn't say anything about Brandon," smiled Chloe.

The girls shot the blonde a sly look, eyebrows raised out of curiosity.

"Don't be so ridiculous," Emily said. "I mean, he's cute and all but that's everything there is to it."

"But what about Michelle's way of acting," Chloe said, changing topics again. "I don't see anything wrong."

"And that's the problem," Stephanie replied.

"She's not doing anything wrong," Paris said. "Because she's trying too hard to fit in."

Emily then started to play with her hair, starting to imitate Michelle. "I'm Michelle. I'm so nice. Please love me!"

The girls erupted into laughter, making some of the other people inside the juice bar frown at them. But the people quickly shrugged it off.

"One is trying to hard to fit in and the other tries to fit out," Stephanie laughed, trying to imitate Brandon. "Shut up. Leave me alone. Start to hate me already."

"That's like the worst impression ever," deadpanned Paris. "He never says a word. He just stays in his corner, glaring at everyone who comes too close."

Chloe nodded confirmingly, even though she hadn't tried to get close to him.

And so, the gossip of the girls continued.

* * *

><p>"James."<p>

No reaction.

"James."

No reaction.

"James."

Still nothing.

Calling out to him didn't help.

The blond walked straight into his field of view. James couldn't ignore him now.

"Training's done for today."

"I know."

James continued to draw a card and place it on the duel disk, repeating the process over and over.

"Then why are you still training?"

"Because it's necessary."

He didn't fully lie on that part. All-Star Trinity Duel School would come in a week. And if his deck was ready by then, he needed to be ready to take them on.

But there also was the thing Riley had said to him.

_"You don't take anything serious."_

He would prove to everyone, and especially to Riley, that he **could** take things serious.

Brandon realized that James wouldn't be quitting anytime soon. The determined look on his face said it all.

"James."

"I'm not stopping."

"It's not about that," Brandon revealed. "You're done with this part of training. You're ready for the next part."

He then stopped, his arm falling to his side. "What's the next part?"

"Laps."

James frowned. "You're making me run?"

"Action Duels are more than just dueling, you know. Once your training will bring results you'll realize what it was necessary for," Brandon explained.

He then removed his red body warmer, throwing it to the side.

James frowned again. "What are you doing?"

"I'll be running with you. Running 20 laps all alone isn't enjoyable. Believe me."

'Believe me'? Did he used to do this too to get better? If that was the case, then James would definitely do that. The level of Brandon was the level he wanted to reach.

He then nodded. "Let's go."

Brandon nodded and so, the two ran 20 whole laps.

* * *

><p>"Master. I think it will only be good if you promote me."<p>

Master frowned at the words the boy spoke. He definitely took every chance to get promoted.

"I won't promote you now that you're the only Master Rank duelist left in this building," Master informed. "It would only be unfair towards the other two. Besides, being the 2nd Master Rank duelist in a Duel School like this one is a good thing."

"It isn't," protested the boy. "Being second best isn't good enough for me. Especially not if Kanbara is ahead of me."

"Kanbara is ahead of you for a reason, Justin."

"That's just a whole load of nonsense," Justin countered. "You don't evaluate our spots as much as it's necessary. Kanbara doesn't deserve to be on top anymore."

"And what makes you think that?" Master asked. "The last time I checked, he defeated you fair and square."

"That was 5 years ago!" Justin went. "In 5 years a lot can change. Look at what he's doing now! He's in that lowly school doing absolutely nothing!"

"He's doing more in there than you would think, Justin," Master countered. "Besides, I gave him a mission that forced him to go there."

"Why is it that you favor Kanbara over everyone else?" Jason asked. "What does he have that we don't have?"

"I don't favor him over everyone else, Justin," Master said. "But if it bothers you, then I'm willing to evaluate your positions after Brandon and Marcellos return."

"Very well."

Justin stood up, stopping in front of the door he walked towards.

"This time, I won't lose to Kanbara. Master."

Master only nodded.

* * *

><p>"This place really has some of the best food available."<p>

"Told you so."

The people shot the two boys weird looks, but the teens simply ignored it.

After all, there's nothing wrong with two boys sitting on the ground, enjoying their food, is it?

"From this point onwards, this is the place where I will be getting my food," Brandon said, munching down the last bit of food he still had.

After both had finished their 20 laps and were about to leave, the blond's stomach started to growl heavily. At that, James told him that he knew a food stand with very good food and that he would definitely enjoy the food there.

Boy, was James right.

"Can I ask you something?"

Brandon shot a look at James. One eyebrow slightly raised. "Shoot it. I'm all ears."

"Why aren't you trying to make any friends at S-Rank?" James asked. "You're a really cool dude."

The boy smirked at the compliment. "I don't believe in friendships."

"Why not?"

"Sometimes, when people grow older, things happen that makes us believe less in a certain thing," Brandon explained. "In my case, it's friendship."

"So you abandoned it," James concluded.

"I didn't abandon it. I just don't believe in it," Brandon corrected. "There's a difference in that."

"Can I ask you another thing?"

"Shoot it."

"I can't figure her out. Think you can help me out?" he asked.

Brandon smirked. He knew who 'her' was. Everyone at S-Rank who knew 'her' was."So you're not married? Such a shame."

"Married?" James asked, a deep frown present. "We were never married."

"Sure you weren't. Even I could see it, and I pay attention to nothing," Brandon said. "Seems I, and many others, were wrong."

James frowned. Were there really so many people who thought they were a couple?

The thought of it pleased him though.

Brandon then thought for a bit, thinking of a way to advice James. "This might sound strange and you will probably think that I'm a dueling fool. But, you can compare love with dueling."

"Dueling?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.

Brandon nodded. "Let's say that the life points are the heart. And it's quite easy actually. When a duelist get's battle damage or effect damage, his life points take a hit, right?"

James nodded. "Yeah."

"It's the same with the heart. When someone who you deeply care about hurts you, your heart takes a hit too."

James knew that. Riley's words from earlier today had definitely taken a hit on his heart.

"But when a duelist's life points get a hit, that duelist can choose: accept that their life points will take more hits and thus lose, or stand up and fight back, Brandon explained. "It's the same with love. When one has a broken heart, one can choose to stay down and allow him- or herself to be hurt because of it or stand back up and try to heal that broken heart."

He then looked James straight in the eyes. "In other words: if you really want Riley, then you should continue to fight for her."

"Who knew that a guy who hides in a corner could give such good advice?" James asked. "I certainly didn't."

"Who knew that Casanova himself needed love advice?" Brandon asked. "I certainly didn't."

James then started to laugh, while Brandon only smirked.

James himself then smirked. This might be a golden opportunity to learn something about Brandon that he might not be able to learn any time soon.

"Who do you like?"

The blond frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." A sly smile painted James features. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"I have no interest in things like that," Brandon claimed. "No girlfriend, no problem."

James decided to let it slide. Just for now. He would get it out of him one day. Eventually.

"You know," the blond began, "I think I'll leave my corner for a while. Just to hang out with you and the other guys some more. After all, I'm a really cool dude."

James smirked at that. It would be good to have a new guy with their group. But there was one thing he still had questions about if that were to happen.

"Are you sure that'll be fine with Eldon?" he asked. "Cause you don't like him."

Brandon frowned. "I never said that I didn't like him. The way he acted towards me, made me act the way I did against him."

"And Daniel?"

"I'm allowed to think of him as a prissy boy, aren't I?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "But don't even worry about it. I'll sort it out with them tomorrow."

"Don't even worry about it?" James asked, a laugh escaping his lips. He never expected that guy to use his own signature sentence.

"It doesn't sound as good out of my mouth as that it sounds out of yours," Brandon said. "But it was worth a try."

"Kind of," the black-haired boy agreed.

This guy. He was actually was very amusing to be around.

Brandon Kanbara really was a mystery to all.

And James had just solved a tiny part of the mystery.

* * *

><p>"Alright everyone, gather around!" Chris ordered, everyone coming together in the middle of the room. "Today we're going to do something that we normally never do, but it's still something that's important for duelists."<p>

Emily frowned while looking around. She then interrupted Chris. "We can't begin. James, Brandon and Riley aren't here."

"I know," Chris said. "They have permission to stay away. Riley informed us of the fact that she would be a little bit later."

Everyone looked at each other. What could be so important that those two could stay away?

"All I have to say right now is: search your partner and try to work together," Chris said.

Everyone then walked across the room, finding the partner who they thought to be the most suitable for them. Paris and Stephanie immediately teamed up together, they knew that together, they were a very strong combo.

Lamar and Daniel kind of unwilling paired up together, mostly because of their clashing styles of dueling, but they both agreed that opposites attract and that there might be a chance that it would work out well.

Emily looked around with an annoyed look on her face. Stephanie and Paris had already found a partner. Her sister was going to be late. And Brandon, who without a doubt was the best duelist in the whole place wasn't present.

Michelle walked up to Eldon, noticing he didn't have a partner yet. "Hey Eldon."

He turned around with raised eyebrows, smiling when he saw who it was. "Oh. Hey Michelle."

"Want to be my partner?" she asked, hoping on it that he would agree to being her partner.

Eldon smiled, giving her a nod. "Sure. I'll get my duel disk and then we can start."

Michelle smiled back, nodding. "Cool."

Emily sighed. She had never hoped that she needed to do it, but it actually was necessary. As leader of S-Rank, she couldn't afford not to have a partner.

"Eldon, you're my partner today."

Said boy once again turned around to the owner of the voice with raised eyebrows, meeting another blonde.

"Emily?" his face soon straightened again, a smile appearing on his face while a small blush crept upon his cheeks. "Sure!"

She wanted him as partner. Did that mean that she finally realized she liked him as well!?

But then he realized it: he now had two partners!

"Eldon, are you ready?" Michelle asked, duel disk already around her wrist.

"Uhm, yeah. I just have to get my deck," he answered. "Be right back!"

He then quickly ran towards Emily, who had told him that they would practice in another room where they couldn't be disturbed by the rest.

Emily glared at him, her arms crossed. "Where have you been? Come on! We have to start now!"

Emily then was about to start off about a tactic, but Eldon then made up an excuse to go back to Michelle. "Uhm, I have to go to the toilet."

"Then go," Emily ordered. "But make it quick!"

Eldon nodded, going back to Michelle, but he also made up excuses to leave her to continue with Emily. It continued like that for half an hour.

Emily, wondering why he's acting even stranger than usual follows him, seeing that he had just left the main room to get back to her.

"Emily?" Eldon called out when he was back in the room again, but she wasn't there. He shrugged. "Time to get back to Michelle, then!"

He walked back into the main room, finding both Michelle and Emily glare at him, both with arms crossed.

"You have actually been switching between partners?" Emily asked, quite ridiculed. With her as partner, someone isn't supposed to even think about another partner. She was clearly the best partner possible.

"You had two partners, Eldon? You could have just told me you already were partners with Emily..." Michelle's face then fell. "I'm really disappointed in you..."

"Choose," Emily demanded. "Who do you want as your partner?"

Eldon looked at Michelle and then at Emily. And then again, again, and again. This choice was a hard one. Going with someone who asked him and is an amazing person and duelist or going with the one had has had a crush on for years and is also leader of the S-Ranks?

Both would be mad if he chose one over the other. He had to find a way out.

Chloe didn't have a partner, didn't she? That was a way out!

He saw Chloe standing all by herself, quickly walking over to her. "I'm choosing Chloe!"

Both of them frowned, mouth agape. Emily was the first one to react.

"CHLOE!?"

Michelle quickly recovered, she understood Eldon's choice. Emily would be enraged if he would have chosen her. She was just a little bit... disappointed that he didn't chose her.

Chris, who had been surveilling for some time, noticed that there were 2 people who didn't have a partner yet.

Michelle and Emily.

Upon Emily's shout, Kate came out of her office, going to see what that was all about. On the inside, she squealed with delight.

"So two of my best duelists are teaming up?" Kate asked with a smile. "This is going to be exciting!"

Emily then raised an eyebrow, quite ridiculed. "Me? Teaming up with her? As if!"

Then, something snapped inside of Michelle. Emily was always mean towards her without any reason. It just didn't make any sense!

"Why are you always being so mean!?"

Emily then raised an eyebrow. "I'm not mean. That's just how things go in S-Rank. If you can't handle that, then just leave!"

"I will not leave!" Michelle replied.

Stephanie and Paris frowned. How dare Michelle to go in against their leader?

Chloe actually had a little bit of respect for what Michelle was doing. No one had ever gone in against Emily. But that was always for a reason. Emily would make sure to make her live a hell right now.

"Then do I have to make you?" Emily asked, glaring daggers at the blonde.

Kate and Chris looked at each other with raised eyebrows. They didn't know what to do. It has never been so hostile in S-Rank before.

"Then make me," Michelle provoked.

Emily took out her duel disk, placing it over her wrist. "If you want to take me on, then try to come at me with full force."

Michelle looked at the duel disk. Right. The best way to put someone on his place in a Duel School was dueling, of course.

But she wondered how it ever got to this. At her previous Duel School, things like these never happened.

She slipped her own duel disk on, placing her deck into the deck holder.

""DUEL!""

"My turn! I play 1st Movement Solo!" Emily said, her magic card materializing in front of her. "When I control no monsters, this card allows me to special summon a Melodious monster from my hand or deck. I special summon Aria the Melodious Diva from my deck!"

Aria the Melodious Diva, Level 4, 1600/1200

"Then I activate the effect of Sonata in my hand! When I control a Melodious Diva, I can special summon her from my hand!"

A blue-haired yellow-skinned woman appeared on the field, her melody echoing through the duel field.

Sonata the Melodious Diva, Level 3, 1200/1000

"I release Aria and Sonata!" Emily announced, the two monster disappearing from the field. **"Enchanting melody echoing in the heaven. Awaken the sleeping virtuoso. Come, level 8 Melodious Maestra - Prodigy Mozart!"**

The melody of the red-dressed woman really seemed to be one of heavens as she descended onto the field.

Melodious Maestra - Prodigy Mozart, Level 8, 2600/2000

"I set one card and end my turn."

"My turn! Draw!"

At that moment Riley walked in, a frown forming on her face when she saw what was going on. "Why is everyone doing nothing and why does Emily have Prodigy Mozart out? Why is she even dueling in the first place?!"

The questions she suddenly threw at them prompted Lamar to explain. "Well, Emily and Michelle kind of got in a small fight."

"I set one monster, one card and end my turn."

**Emily: 4000, Cards x1**

**Michelle: 4000, Cards x4**

"Pfff," Emily went. "You aim to take me on with stupid moves like that?"

"They're not stupid," Michelle countered. "They're part of my strategy!"

"Whatever," Emily shrugged. "My turn! Draw!"

"I activate Prodigy Mozart's effect! Once per turn, I can special summon one Melodious monster from my hand!" Emily explained. "I special summon Serena the Melodious Diva to my field in defense position!"

Serena the Melodious Diva, Level 4, 400/1900

"And when I control a Melodious monster, I can special summon Canon the Melodious Diva from my hand!" Emily revealed, a woman with blue hair appearing on the field.

Canon the Melodious Diva, Level 4, 1400/2000

Then, Emily's trap flipped open. "Trap activate!"

A powerful shock crashed down upon Michelle, hurting her a lot. "Ahhhhh!"

Michelle: 4000 → 1600

Michelle slowly recovered from the shock, Emily starting to explain. "Melodious Melody of Divine Punishment deals 800 points of damage to you for each Melodious monster I control."

Emily threw her hand forward, wasting no time and immediately entering her battle phase. "Canon, destroy her face-down monster!"

Michelle's face-down monster easily got destroyed by the sound waves Canon unleashed, the monster being revealed: a dark colored hedgehog.

"Shaddoll Hegehog's effect activates!" Michelle informed. "When its flipped I can add 1 Shaddoll magic or trap card from my deck to my hand!"

A card ejected itself from out of the deck holder, Michelle adding it to her.

"Prodigy Mozart, direct attack!" Emily ordered. "Graceful Wave!"

Prodigy Mozart fired its attack at the blonde girl, who in response activated her trap. "Trap activate, Shaddoll Roots!"

7 evil roots descended out of a small core, taking Prodigy Mozart's attack.

"When activated, Shaddoll Roots gets summoned as an effect monster," Michelle explained.

The 7 entities disappeared into the small core, the core falling to pieces after the entities were in it.

"Turn end."

"My turn! Draw! I summon Shaddoll Hound!"

Shaddoll Hound, Level 4, 1600/900

She then picked out the magic card she had added to her hand through Shaddoll Hedgehog, activating it. "I activate Nephe Shaddoll Fusion, declaring the attribute Light!"

Shaddoll Hound's armor then became white instead of purple, making it give off some sort of heavenly vibe.

"Then I activate Nephe Shaddoll's Fusion second effect!" Michelle declared. "And that allows me to Fusion summon!"

Shaddoll Hound and a purple colored dragon disappeared into the swirling vortex, Michelle starting her chant.

**"The shell from beyond! Emotionless dragon! Come together to form a new entity! Puppet of darkness, your strings shall be followed to your source! Let the light of darkness disappear! Fusion summon! Level 8! El Shaddoll Nephilim!"**

Everyone watched as a monster appeared that looked similar to one of Paris' Gem Knights, multiple purple threads coming from the monster.

El Shaddoll Nephilim, Level 8, 2800/2500

"I activate Shaddoll's Hound effect!" Michelle announced. "When it's sent to the graveyard through a card effect, I can change the position of one monster on the field. I can the position of Serena!"

Shaddoll Hound's spirit appeared on the field, biting at Serena, forcing her into an offensive stance.

"Then I activate El Shaddoll Nephilim's effect! When she's special summoned, I can discard 1 Shaddoll card from my deck!" Michelle explained, discarding one of her cards. "I discard Shaddoll Beast, activating it's effect! When it's sent to the graveyard through a card effect, I can draw one card!"

Michelle drew one card, giving it a good look before adding it to her hand, playing another. "I activate Shaddoll Fusion!"

Another swirling vortex appeared, a lizard and a falcon disappearing into it.

**"Dark toy reptile! Reincarnating falcon! Give birth to the sorceress that flies on the back on the demonic dragon, restricting all allies that attempt to assist our enemy! Fusion summon! Level 5! El Shaddoll Midrash!"**

A green-haired girl riding a dragon descended upon the field, her thread being connected with some of those on Nephilim's back.

El Shaddoll Midrash, Level 5, 2200/800

"Nephilim, attack Prodigy Mozart!" Michelle ordered.

Nephilim shot a dark beam out of her right hand, immediately destroying Prodigy Mozart.

Emily: 4000 → 3800

"Midrash, attack Serena!"

Midrash shot a magical beam from her scepter, nailing Serena in the head with it.

Emily: 3800 → 2000

"Turn end."

**Emily: 2000, Cards x0**

**Michelle: 1600, Cards x1**

Emily was about to draw her card, but a voice prevented her from that.

"Stop it! The both of you!" Chris ordered, the two girls lowering their duel disks.

"You are supposed to be a team! If you keep fighting against each other instead of with each other, then no one of S-Rank will be able to win the tournament!" Chris scolded.

"Chris is right," Kate agreed. "I don't want two of my best duelists fighting against each other."

Emily deactivated her duel disk, Michelle soon following. They both crossed their arms, turning away from each other.

"Try to solve your problems before the tournament starts," Kate said.

"Or else, you two can already kiss the tournament goodbye," Chris finished.

Chris and Kate headed back towards the office, handling all kinds of administrational work.

Both Emily and Michelle joined a respective group, Emily's group, well, actually just Emily, Paris and Stephanie glared daggers at Michelle, while Riley and Chloe had a worried look on their face.

Michelle Victorrama and Brandon Kanbara. They were just two new duelists, two good duelists. But everything went downhill from the moment they joined.

They could only hope that it wouldn't get even worse.

* * *

><p><strong>Credits to Ghost83 for coming up with most of Nephilim's summon chant.<strong>

**I don't know if I had already said this before, but it could be the case that, for some cards, I might use the TCG/OCG effect, for some just purely the anime effect, and for some a combination of both. Because, well, you know... I can.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I wish all of you a nice day.**

**See ya!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

><p>James' marvelous idea.<p>

* * *

><p>"Are we complete?"<p>

Chris looked around to find if everyone was present, but there was one person missing.

Brandon was late, as always.

Everyone then shot a look towards the corner where he usually resides. There was a good possibility that he was there without anyone noticing.

But there was nothing either.

"We'll just wait for him then," said Chris, leaving the room for the time being.

Not too soon after Chris left, the blond walked into the room.

He threw his bag with the others, looking around with a frown on his face. "No one around to keep an eye on us?"

"The one who was supposed to do that just left because you're late," Stephanie informed.

The blond shrugged. "Oh well."

"If you want to stay with the S-Ranks, you need to show full commitment. That includes being on time," Emily scolded. "Do I make myself clear?"

Brandon nodded. "Right. I'm sorry. I'll try to be on time from this day onward."

Everyone, except for James, frowned. Did he just not ignore or shrug off something that somebody said to him?

Lamar then placed both hands on his shoulders, slightly shaking the boy. "Who are you and what have you done to Brandon Kanbara?"

The boy smirked, removing Lamar's hands from his shoulders. "I am Brandon Kanbara. I'm just starting to feel at home here. That's all there is to it really."

The blond then changed his attention to Eldon and Daniel. "I want to apologize to the both of you."

They both frowned at that.

"To you for acting the way I did against you that day," Brandon said to Eldon, changing his attention to Daniel. "And to you for calling you a prissy boy."

Daniel frowned at that. Did the guy actually just sincerely apologized?

"It's fine. The way I acted towards you wasn't very appropriate either," Eldon admitted.

Brandon then extended his hand, searching for a handshake. "Let's call it a quit. No hard feelings."

Eldon smiled, accepting the boy's handshake. "No hard feelings."

He then changed his attention to Daniel, a smirk present on his face. "How about you?"

"It's fine."

He wouldn't shake his hand. He didn't know if the apology was sincere or not.

But the blond boy didn't seem to be bothered by that. "Good."

Chris then walked back into the room, seeing that the blond boy everyone waited on was present.

"Seems we can begin." Chris took his place across the group, everyone looking at him in anticipation. "Today we're going to do the same as yesterday: tag duels."

"But I technically don't really have a deck available right now," James interrupted.

"And we weren't present yesterday," Brandon butted in. "So we didn't really have partners anyway."

"That's actually quite beneficial. We didn't have an even number so someone had to go solo then," Chris said. "But now, everyone can have a partner."

James could hear Brandon complain. He guessed that Brandon was the one that needed to go and wanted to go solo.

"I won't be making the partnerships," Chris announced. "Which means that, just like yesterday, you get to choose your own partner."

Several people then shot a look to each other as some sort of agreement.

"You also immediately go to work with your partner. Whatever you do doesn't matter as long as you learn something from it," Chris explained. "At the end of the day, you will take on the other tag teams to see which tag team has actually done the best work today. You can now search your tag partner."

The boys quickly retreated from the group, Lamar and Daniel discussing about who was allowed to be Brandon's partner.

"Brandon and I are like a car," Lamar began. "A car without a motor can't work. But a car with a motor can. I can't work without Brandon. But with Brandon, I am able to work."

Brandon frowned, blinking a couple of times. He then turned his head to James. "Does he always say things nobody understands?"

"Most of the time," James replied, then starting to look around. "Where's Eldon?"

Brandon noticed that Eldon was indeed gone. Hadn't he retreated with the 4 of them?

He then jerked his head towards the direction Eldon was at when he found him. "There he is."

James turned around towards designated direction, sighing when he saw it. "Trying his luck with Emily once again...?"

And from what Brandon knew, and James tone, that could never end well. Last week, he carried her bag and other belongings. And that same day, he even tied her shoelace without her asking it. It looked like it that he was more of a dog to Emily than a person.

"Hey Emily," Eldon greeted, immediately asking that where he originally approached her for. "Would you like to be my partner?"

Emily frowned for a bit. That he even dared to ask.

"No, Eldon. I won't be your partner."

"But... why not?" he then asked. "I mean, we both still don't have a partner yet."

Emily's eyes then started to dart all over the place. A partner. She quickly needed to find someone to pretend she had a partner already.

Brandon was then pulled away from his group, his expression displaying confusion. "Later, guys. I guess."

He then came to a stop, quickly glancing to his left and the right for a bit, not sure what just happened.

"You're her partner?" Eldon then asked.

Brandon then looked to his side. So Emily was the one who dragged him away.

And she tried to make Eldon believe that he was her partner.

This could actually benefit him too. It would stop Daniel and Lamar from arguing about who got to be his partner.

And Emily was the leader of the S-Ranks. Which meant that she probably was one of the most skilled duelists among them.

"Apparently," he answered. He had decided to just go with it. "Sorry, man. She asked me quite fast."

"It's fine."

He then went to join the guys, a mopey look on his face. Brandon actually felt sorry for him.

"Thanks for helping me out," Emily said.

"I can say the same to you," Brandon said. "So does this mean we're partners?"

Emily then frowned. She clearly was surprised. "If you want to team up with me so badly, then I'll accept your offer."

It was Brandon's turn to frown. "You're the one who dragged me over here."

He had a point there.

"You should be honored to be the partner of S-Rank's captain, you know."

"I'll keep it in mind."

"Now, as leader of S-Rank and as your partner and you being the newbie, I shall teach you more about S-Rank, even though you're already quite familiar with this place," Emily said. "First, there is a group that is very good to keep on your side. And that's my group."

Brandon frowned. "There are different groups inside a group? That's new for me."

"There obviously is the boy's group. James, Lamar, Eldon and Daniel. You'll probably hang out with them a lot too, being a guy," Emily started. "But my group is the best here. Existing out of Chloe, Paris, Stephanie, Riley and myself."

"Then where does that other girl belong too?" Brandon asked.

Emily knew that he meant Michelle, and thus she immediately answered what she thought. "Not at this Duel School."

Emily clearly had a great dislike for Michelle. So much was clear to the blond teen. But he still didn't really understand the whole group in a group thing.

"Those groups. I don't have to become part of a group or something?" the blond asked. "I prefer to roll solo."

Emily then laughed. "Rolling solo? It's cute to think that you actually think that you're better off without cooperating with me."

"I'm not saying that. I just prefer rolling solo," the blond clarified. "I don't even know what you can do besides looking pretty."

"Good that you noticed that too," Emily complimented, taking out her duel disk. "Let's just practice our tactics."

Brandon nodded, taking out his own duel disk.

"Let's show 'em."

* * *

><p>The end of the day had drawn nearer than Emily had thought. Working with Brandon was actually a refreshment compared with working with the other guys.<p>

This guy actually was capable of being serious.

And not only in theory it worked well, but in practical use it went even better.

The other couples they needed to take on were Riley and Michelle, Stephanie and Paris, Daniel and Lamar, and Chloe and Eldon.

Together they easily flew through their duels. He was actually more cooperative than Emily thought he would be.

If she needed to to win a tournament or something through tag dueling, Brandon will definitely be the first name on her potential partner list.

"Volcano Frenzy!"

Blaster took down Eldon's last monster, completely fading out Eldon and Chloe's last remaining life points.

To say that Brandon was disappointed with the challenge the other teams had put up was an understatement.

"I didn't even use my three strongest dragons..." he muttered, then shrugging. "Oh well. It was fun to let my other dragons play for a bit."

Chris and Kate had complimented the two on the good work. They had most certainly enjoyed it.

Emily felt extremely proud of what she had achieved. Not only did she manage to get probably the strongest duelist in their duel school as her partner, but she actually managed to work together with him. A thing that seemed to be impossible, judging from the way he acted during his first days at Your Move. The other S-Ranks could and should definitely learn from that.

"So, Cap. Satisfied with my performance?" he asked in a playful manner.

"It wasn't bad," Emily admitted. "I'll consider you as a partner when I ever need one."

Brandon smirked, a bit of a playful tone entering his voice. "I feel flattered."

"You'd better be," she warned.

He then watched her join her girl group, an amused smirk on his face.

She most certainly was a lot more... sassy at Duel School than she was when she at his house back then. He guessed that it had to do something with her being the leader, and he could understand that.

But she was interesting.

He definitely gave her that.

* * *

><p>"Sir. We have tried to improve the cards, but it seems to have failed."<p>

The silver-haired teen raised his eyebrows at that. "Failed?"

"Yes, sir."

The man was waiting for the teen to explode. But that didn't happen, instead he sighed. "It isn't going as planned, it seems..."

The scientist bowed in an apologetic manner. "Our sincerest apologies for that, sir. The fact is that we have to less information on Pendulum monsters and Pendulum summon to perfect it."

"No need for apologies. I'm aware of it too. You try your hardest to perfect them," the teen spoke. "And like you said, there are so many questions about Pendulum monsters that have yet to be answered. Where does it come from? How did it come to existence? Those are things nobody has an answer to."

"It seems that we need much more help if we want the Pendulum monsters ready for the tournament," the scientist said. "But that's as good as impossible to get."

"It isn't." The teen clasped his hands together, fingers intertwining. "It seems that we need his help."

The scientist frowned at the mention of 'his'. He clearly had no idea what the teen was talking about. "Help from who?"

"You'll see."

If there was something the scientist had learned, then it was to not to try to find out what the silver-haired teen meant. The teen hated it when people tried to learn of stuff they didn't necessarily need to know or what they would come to know anytime soon.

The scientist ended the conversation with an "I see", promising the boy that he would do anything in his might to fix the cards.

The man in the black suit then took a stand in front of the teen's desk, hands hidden behind his back. "I shall make arrangements with them to work out a deal, sir."

"Bother not, Johnson."

The man then tilted his head to the side, facing the teen with raised eyebrows. "But sir, it's necessary to do this."

"I know," the teen acknowledged. "Therefore, I will visit them myself."

"Well, you're necessary to work out a deal with them, sir," Johnson informed.

"I know," the teen said. "But let's keep our visit a surprise."

"A surprise?" Johnson's frown became even deeper. While the teen was the owner of a big company, a school, and was an elite duelist, he sure could be really... incomprehensible.

The teen nodded. "Yeah. I might even run into the other duel child prodigy while we're at it."

Johnson's frown faded. So that what it was all about. The other duel child prodigy.

"You really want to meet him, it seems." Johnson saw the small frown appearing on the teen's forehead, making him fear that he said something wrong. "I mean, why do you necessarily have to meet him? We don't really have any business with him concerning Pendulum."

The teen's eyes narrowed, Johnson's body began to shake. His boss sure was intimidating when he looked like that, even for a big man like himself. Not weird when he was the person with probably the most power of the whole city.

The teen remained silent for a short while. And Johnson didn't know if it was a good sign or a bad sign. All he hoped was that he wouldn't get fired for saying what he had just said.

But then the silver-haired teen spoke up.

"We actually do have business with him. In case you forgot it, the Dragonic Emperor is in possession of Pendulum monsters himself. His Pendulum monsters are those of the purest kind: the real one. If we can get him to cooperate with us, then we will be able to mass produce Pendulum monsters much faster," the boy explained. "And, of course I want to meet the other duel child prodigy. I hold him in high regard."

"But sir, you've never met him," Johnson protested.

The teen shot him an icy glare, making Johnson tremble once again. Johnson reminded himself that needed to watch his words from this point onwards.

"That doesn't mean that I can't have respect for what he has achieved," the teen spoke. "Nobody has reached what he has reached at the mere age of 15. The level he's at right now is also unparalleled for his age."

"That seems high unlikely for a 15-years old boy," Johnson said. "The most 15-years old boys are just going to school like any normal kid."

"Any 17-years old normally doesn't own a company and a school, do they?" the teen swiftly countered.

Johnson gritted his teeth. His boss sure could counter him very well. "Right."

"But that's because Brandon Kanbara is different. Many people become a pro because they want fame or wealth, but Brandon Kanbara didn't choose to become so strong. It's his way of dueling that made him like that."

The teen took out his own deck. The deck he would duel the blond teen with one day.

"He duels with passion. He places his heart and soul in his deck. Every card he draws holds a small bit of his passion for dueling," the teen told to Johnson. "And that's what will make him the best for a long time to come. A lot of duelists get consumed by the wealth and fame, discarding things like passion and fun. Therefore, duelists only stay in their prime for 2, 3 years, 4 years maximum."

"Do you really think he will stay on top for long?" Johnson asked. "I mean, you are the best duelist in this whole city. What am I saying? You're known through whole of Asia!"

The teen frowned. "You have never seen him duel, Johnson. He isn't the second half of the two dueling child prodigies for nothing. He is also known through whole Asia."

Johnson said nothing. Was he that loyal to his boss that him to never notice the other duel child prodigy?

"Japan has been longing for a new duelist who can dominate at the top. That's why they have high hopes for every new prospect, but they don't seem to be able to handle the pressure." The teen then stood up from his chair, watching over the city through his large window. "But now that they have high hopes for two, they have more chance to have a duelist like that."

"Sir. Why are you talking so great of Brandon Kanbara while you're an elite duelist yourself?" Johnson asked. He didn't really understand his boss at times. Not that he would say that. It would get him fired.

The teen closed his eyes for a small bit. It seemed that Johnson thought that rivalry always was hostile one.

"Johnson," he began, "a rivalry doesn't always have to be where one talks about his rival in a bad way and sees himself as the best. Like I said earlier, I hold Brandon Kanbara in high regard. But that doesn't mean that I don't want to beat him. Despite being the owner of a company and a school, I still want to be the best duelist in the world and I'm sure of it that Brandon Kanbara shares that goal with me."

Johnson said nothing. He only reminded himself to say something in which Brandon Kanbara was present or necessary.

It forced him to listen to what his boss thought of Brandon Kanbara and to be honest, he couldn't care about that.

His boss was the best. He would never doubt that.

* * *

><p>Brandon frowned. This was just getting ridiculous.<p>

He normally didn't care. Mostly because he never noticed before.

But he could hear her shout. Again. It actually began to hurt his poor ears. Nobody ever shouted that much at All-Star Trinity. Well, except for Justin when he was mad again.

And because of all the shouting, he was interested in what made the blonde girl shout. She was just shouting around at the boys and at Michelle. Even Chloe needed to suffer for a bit. Poor Chloe.

From one side he could understand it. S-Rank was a good Duel School, but against the likes of LDS and All-Star Trinity, a student of theirs would never reach any further then the quarter finals. And even to reach the quarter finals there would e a lot of luck necessary.

Therefore, they all needed to become stronger and Emily knew that too and that was probably also the reason why she's so harsh on them.

But from the other side, the shouting was a wrong thing to make them stronger. The constant shouting was actually quite de-moralizing and everyone, except for the people of Emily's group, was annoyed by it. It would only make them turn against her and in order to win a tournament as big as the one that was coming, a Duel School needed to be a unity if they wanted to have at least one student to advance far into the tournament.

He stood up, stretched himself out and decided to make an end to all the shouting for the day.

Slowly but steady he walked up towards the blonde girl, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around, expecting it to be Eldon who would try to ask her out again. "No, Eldon. Oh. Brandon."

"I feel offended that you can't distinguish the two of us," Brandon fake pouted. "Anyway, you should stop shouting so much. You'll loose your voice if you do it too much, Cap."

Emily frowned before she glared at him. "Sorry, but that's not possible. I'm the leader of the S-Ranks."

"You can be a leader without shouting so much, you know," Brandon informed. He knew how bothersome it could be to be a leader. He was one at his previous Duel School too. "Want me to help you to lighten the load a bit?"

"Help? Lighten the load?" Emily repeated.

Brandon nodded. "I'll take the boys and you take the girls. It will make it easier for you to do your job."

"Thanks for the offer, but the answer is no," Emily replied. "I'm the leader and what I say goes."

"Alright then," shrugged Brandon, smirking. "Then you'll still be stuck with Eldon asking you out constantly and with Lamar constantly making no sense. And James being James. Seems it will be unable for you to impress Kate and Chris that way. Oh well."

Impressing Kate and Chris, huh. That was what she was trying to do. The better she did as leader, the more it would justify her position with Kate and Chris. Getting rid of the troublesome guys group for the time being could help her with that.

It didn't seem that Brandon was after her position of leader, so there was no real danger in letting him do that.

And not having to put up with Eldon and his attempts to ask her out would mean the world to her.

"Wait," she ordered, stopping the boy from his trip back to his corner. "I have reconsidered your offer."

Brandon raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "Oh?"

"You can have the boys side," Emily answered. "But **don't** try to go after my spot as leader of the S-Ranks. Got that?"

The blond boy smirked. He got her right where he wanted her. "Alright." He then made a dismissive hand movement. "Don't worry, Cap. I'm not after your leader position."

"Good."

He then walked past her, planning to leave to another room. "I'll promise you that you won't regret this, Cap."

"Boys. You are all coming with me," Brandon ordered, Emily nodding in approval.

The boys smiled.

"Sweet! We don't get to be shouted at anymore!" James cheered.

"But we'll be split from the rest of the group," Eldon said.

"Does it matter? Emily approves of it," Lamar informed.

"But if he will be much of an improvement is a thing to be seen..." Daniel sighed.

The boys then followed Brandon out of the room, heading to another one.

And what an improvement he proved to be.

* * *

><p>They laughed with each other, dueled against each other and the atmosphere in general was very good.<p>

Brandon Kanbara had managed to make them enjoy S-Rank for the time being.

Of course, as he had promised Emily, Brandon trained them to do that what Kate and Chris had told them to do.

But his way of doing that was way different.

Emily wanted them to do it the way she wanted it, not involving the opinions or ideas of somebody else.

Brandon was the complete opposite. Just like Emily, he was strict. But he actually talked with them about the things that actually needed to be better and if they had any ideas to actually improve that. And if he came up with an idea himself, he allowed others opinion about it.

After he decided that they had done enough training, he just let them do whatever they wished to do. Dueling, fooling around, everything.

And while they were just fooling around, Brandon actually helped James with helping him learn about other summon mechanics than Fusion, seeing that he had proceeded to build a deck that also had Synchro and Xyz in it. And James had, outside of helping the other with coming up with ideas, done nothing because he didn't have a deck.

Eldon was still neutral on it, but the other guys were sure of it.

Emily was unsuitable to be leader of the S-Ranks. There needed to be a new leader as soon as possible.

In case of leadership, Brandon was practically the same as Michelle, who had been some sort of leader at her previous Duel School. They both were more of 'talkers', involving the ideas and opinions of others. There also was no shouting with them.

With Emily, you were guaranteed to get shouted at at least 5 times a day. And she didn't involve any ideas or opinions of others.

A new leader would definitely give them a better shot at one of them winning that tournament.

* * *

><p>The boys entered the room with a smile, quickly grabbing their bags, heading home.<p>

Brandon soon followed, a satisfied smirk on his face.

The boys' smiles didn't go unnoticed to Emily and the others, so they confronted the blond boy.

"What have you done with them?" Emily asked.

Brandon hid his hands in his pockets, shrugging. "Pretty much that what was told to do."

"Then why are they smiling?" Emily asked. "It surely couldn't be that fun!?"

"Don't freak out so much, Cap. If you want to know why they are smiling, I think you must ask that to them. Not to me," Brandon spoke, grabbing his own bag. "Anyway, I'm going home, too."

He opened the door, standing still in front of the opened door, doorknob still in his hand. "By the way, I'm taking the boys tomorrow too. Just so you know."

"Fine with me," Emily said. "But if they fail during the tournament, then it's your fault!"

"Don't worry, Cap," Brandon insisted. "They won't fail."

"They'd better not," she warned in response as the blond left.

He then stood outside, leaving the girls as the only ones in the room.

He smirked to himself and to what Emily had said.

"They won't fail. Because you all will."

* * *

><p>"You know, I really think we should try to overthrow Emily."<p>

Riley frowned at what James said.

"Overthrow Emily?" she asked. "Do you know how mad she will be when she discovers you want that?"

"Come on, Riley! You know how terrible she is!" James said. "She yells at everyone, doesn't include opinions and ideas from anyone else, creates seperation in the group, and is just mean in general!"

"Alright. I agree with you on that. But there is no one else who can lead S-Rank," Riley spoke. "Emily is doing it for the third year now. She knows how it works!"

"Brandon is a good leader. And Michelle was a leader at her previous Duel School wasn't she?" he remembered. "If we can get one of the two as new leader, everything will become much better!"

Riley thought everything over again. This could go either entirely wrong or entirely well.

It was true that Emily was everything James had listed, but it was also like she said. Emily did this 2 times before. She knew how things worked. And she felt that she was the only one who deserved to be the leader.

But then Riley started to wonder. Was it really the best to place Emily's desires above those of S-Rank, who practically all had the same desire?

"I-I don't know James," Riley admitted. "Emily will be enraged if someone else would become the leader."

"But we don't need to take Emily's feelings in account!" James protested. "The majority of S-Rank want a new leader! We have to take the feelings of the group in account to have a good chance to win the tournament!"

"You know what," she began, "I will think about it. But I won't promise that I will help you overthrow her!"

James was about so say something, but then he noticed that they were close to the meeting place where Brandon would be waiting for them.

"Let's ask Brandon how he thinks about this!" he proposed, immediately running off.

Riley sighed. She hadn't even agreed to helping him, and he was already asking other people what they thought about it.

The blond stood up from his spot underneath the tree as he saw them approach, slightly taken back by the look on James' face.

"We need your opinion on something," he said.

"No. He needs your opinion on something," she said, pointing to James.

Blond eyebrows were raised, while a question came out of his mouth. "And you need my opinion on what exactly?"

"The fact that Emily is leader of S-Rank," James answered. "What do you think about that?"

He stayed silent for a while. James and Riley weren't sure what he was going to say, but they were interested nonetheless.

"I'll give you my honest opinion on it. S-Rank is a group that needs to have some freedom to improve themselves. They need to have the possibility to use their own ideas into improving and from what I know, Emily sadly enough doesn't do that."

James began to smile. If they could persuade Brandon in joining them and even try to make him the leader, they would be standing very strong already!

"However—"

'However'. That could never be good.

"—I do think that S-Rank also needs to get tamed a little bit. So that they won't have to much freedom and that they won't forget that they also have to learn something. Emily is strict enough to do that."

"So?" James went.

"So I think she's a good leader, but she does need to improve her flaws," he explained. "Which means that she must be a little bit more 'fun' and tolerating."

He then looked James straight in the eye, his serious expression becoming even more serious. "Why do you ask?"

"Don't even worry about it," he replied.

Brandon shrugged, heaving a small sigh. "If you say so. Now then, get to training, you two."

They nodded and went to training, one with a big smile on his face.

During the running James thought of a marvelous idea on how to get a new leader.

It was good and it would become even better.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I wish all of you a nice day.<strong>

**See ya!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. I only own my OC's.**

* * *

><p>The destined meeting.<p>

* * *

><p>The alarms continued to go crazy as the All-Star Trinity security went to search for the intruders, greatly wondering how someone was able to get past their security.<p>

"President, what are we going to do when they got us?"

"Just keep walking. As soon as we meet him we're safe."

The silver-haired continued to walk straight ahead. He had truly no idea where the one the students of All-Star Trinity called 'Master' was hiding at.

However, finding the other half of the dueling child prodigies would help them greatly in their search.

The more he kept walking, the more he felt that strong aura.

The aura that revealed the presence of an emperor; the Dragonic Emperor, to be exact.

"There they are!"

The security had found them, hurrying over to them to get them out.

The silver-haired teen men quickly got in front of him, preventing the security from getting at him.

"President, go. We'll keep them busy."

The teen nodded, continuing his way.

Johnson sighed, bringing his hand to his forehead. "I knew it was a bad idea to come unexpected."

* * *

><p>The teen had decided to just follow the strong aura that he felt.<p>

He was sure of it that it was the one of Brandon Kanbara, and that if he just went the way it came from that he would find him.

He passed through the last door, walking through a long, small hall.

The hall gave a feeling of hostility, as if he could suddenly be shot right at the spot for getting too close to Master.

But luckily for the teen, nothing happened, allowing him to peacefully continue his way.

There was no security to be seen, too. His men were really helping him out. He would thank them for that.

He then came to a stop before a large door. Guessing it was the room Master would be in, he prepared to get in but footsteps prevented him from doing that.

A blond boy walked in front of the door, coming from another hallway on the right.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Dragonic Emperor," the silver-haired teen greeted. "Or should I say Brandon Kanbara?"

"Fancy meeting you here," the blond greeted back. "But this is the farthest you will go, Alternate Overlord. Or should I say..."

The boy closed his eyes, opened them, and a friendly smirk appeared on his features.

"...Leonardo Declan?"

* * *

><p>Michelle sat down on the chair that was left empty, smiling at James and Riley.<p>

"Hey guys," she greeted. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Riley looked at James who had a large and idiotic smile on his face. He really was way too enthusiastic about it all.

"Do you want to be the leader of S-Rank?" he bluntly asked.

"What?" Michelle asked. "Leader of S-Rank? Me? I can't do that!"

"You can!" James replied. "You have been some sort of leader on your previous Duel School, and most of the guys are fine with it!

"Most of the guys?" Riley asked with a frown. It was the first time she heard about something like that.

James nodded. "Daniel and Lamar want another leader too. Eldon is still a bit on Emily's side, and Brandon is neutral on it."

"But I'm not accepted by the girls," Michelle countered. "And there are more girls than boys in S-Rank."

"That's right," Riley butted in. "They would never listen to her if she would become the leader. They are too loyal to Emily for that."

"Then we have to vote!"

The two girls frowned on him, not sure if he was joking again or if he was being serious.

He noticed the frowns, frowning back. "What? I'm serious!"

"Voting?" Riley began. "That's your most stupid idea yet."

"It isn't! S-Rank exists out of 11 members. Stephanie and Paris will definitely choose Emily's side, but Lamar, Daniel, Riley and I will choose yours. We can persuade Eldon to do the same, Brandon is neutral so we can do the same, and maybe we can persuade Chloe too!"

"Chloe?" Riley asked. "I don't think that's possible. She's part of Emily's group. And by the way, I wasn't sure yet!"

"But Emily is constantly being mean to her. If we use that against her, we can get her on our side!" James explained, completely ignoring Riley's other remark.

Michelle thought about it for a while. While being leader of S-Rank would be a nice achievement, she would make too many enemies. Emily already didn't like her, and thus her group, except for Riley and Chloe, who was nice to everyone, automatically did the same.

And then there still was the guy Brandon Kanbara. She honestly didn't know if she was able to get him to listen to her.

There were way too many disadvantages to it.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do it," Michelle said, standing up. "It will only make things worse."

She then left, James stupidly blinking while Riley gave him a slap on the back of his head.

"Now look what you've done!" she went. "Now you have someone against you, James."

James rubbed the back of his head, immediately responding. "She's not against me. She's neutral in some sort of way."

Riley shook her head at the boy. She knew that it was a bad idea.

But James refused to stop here.

He would make his plan work.

* * *

><p>Brandon called someone throug his Duel Disk while Leonardo patiently waited.<p>

"Stop your search," he ordered. "I got the intruder."

The security did indeed stop their search, allowing Leonardo and the ones accompanying him to relax.

"Sorry about the hostility," Brandon said. "But you never know what people want to do to Master."

"Don't worry," Leonardo insisted. "I understand that."

"Should have known it was LDS. They are the only ones able to break through our security," Brandon said. "But now then, what are you here for?"

"I have some business that I want to discuss with the ones you call Master," he replied.

"Master? I'm afraid I can't allow that," Brandon said. "Unless you have his permission of course."

"I'm afraid we don't have that," Leonardo spoke.

Brandon smirked, coming to the teen's rescue. "Because it's you, I can work something out for you. Just give me a sec."

"I would greatly appreciate that," Leonardo answered.

The blond proceeded to make the call, the voice of Master answering to him.

_"Brandon Kanbara, how can I help you?"_

"Oh not me. A guest of ours," he said.

_"A guest? Who is it?"_

"The other half of the duel child prodigies," the blond answered. "The Alternate Overlord."

_"Alternate Overlord..."_

It remained silent for a short while but the response ultimately came.

_"Let him in."_

"As you wish, Master."

The blond cut off the call, putting away his Duel Disk. "You heard it. You're allowed to enter. Feel free to act at home."

The large door opened, allowing Leonardo entrance to a room with dimmed light.

Brandon left into the direction he appeared from, while Leonardo set one foot into the room.

He then stopped, looking back at the blond. "You're allowed to come along. It's something you might benefit from too."

At that, the blond raised an eyebrow, wondering how it should benefit him.

He then smirked. If Leonardo Declan, owner of Leo Corporation, informed him of the fact that it might benefit him too, then it must be something very good. Why else would he want to do business with Master?

"If you say so."

He then turned, walking into the large room with Leonardo.

The auras of the both raged through the room and Master knew and felt it.

Their duel would be a great one.

One that would go down in history.

* * *

><p>"So we are the only ones who are against Emily?"<p>

James nodded at Daniel's question, a grin forming on his face. "But Brandon is neutral, so we might persuade him in joining us!"

"But I'm not against Emily..." Eldon spoke. "So then why am I here?"

"Because," James began, "we are part of S-Rank. The boys part. Now we have a chance to hang out without the girls!"

"Brandon isn't here," Lamar said. "So it's like without the girls and one boy."

"Yeah, just call him," Eldon said. "He's one of us, too."

"I tried to but he didn't pick up," James answered. "Then I tried a second time, and told to me that he was busy with something else."

"I'm sorry, but this is our usual hang out place."

The boys looked up and found a dark-skinned boy in front of them. The boy was accompanied by a group.

"I'm sorry but we were here first," James responded.

"Besides, it's not like your name is written on this bench," Daniel butted in.

"At least people know our name," one of the group members counted.

"Well, not these people," Eldon said.

"We are Your Show Duel School," one of the group members introduced. "A Duel School that has a better reputation than yours."

"Indeed. The only Duel School's that are able to beat us are LDS and All-Star Trinity," the 'leader' spoke. "Other Duel School's have to try really hard for that."

"Care for a challenge then?" James asked. "Our Duel School against yours."

"Are you crazy?" Daniel genuinely asked. "We already have All-Star Trinity coming at us."

"All-Star Trinity? You guys?" the 'leader' asked. "They will defeat you without any effort."

"They are strong," Eldon admitted. "But beating us without any effort? That's a rash thing to say."

_Of course they're strong. One of them is with you and I'm the leader of this bunch, _the dark-skinned boy said. "But, if you're scared to duel then we can do something else than duel."

"Something else than dueling?" Daniel asked. "What are you saying?"

"As you might or might not know, our Duel School is one that teaches Entertainment Dueling," the boy revealed. "Therefore, we'll have an 'entertainment battle'. The one who gets the crowd the most enjoyed, wins."

The boys shot each other unsure looks. Accepting the challenge would make it extremely busy for them, seeing that All-Star Trinity would be coming soon, too.

But turning down the challenge would give the Duel School a bad name. They would forever be known as 'the Duel School who is too scared to take on another Duel School'. Kate would be so disappointed in them that they wouldn't be able to go to Your Move anymore.

And of course, Emily would shout at them for giving the Duel School a bad name. They definitely didn't want that.

But accepting the challenge didn't necessarily have to be a problem. They were quite good and they were constantly improving. It could actually become everything except a failure.

And they had Brandon now. He was good at normal dueling and his duels often were spectacular. And spectacular things mostly entertain people.

"We accept," James went. "Your Move can't turn down a challenge."

"We can't?" Eldon asked.

"We can," Daniel answered. "Because this will cause too much drama!"

"So then, do you accept or not?" the 'leader' asked, a puzzled expression on his face. "And please, just one of you give me the answer. Not all three."

"We accept," James repeated. "Just give us a time and place!"

"Our Duel School," the boy answered. "Two days. We'll make sure that we'll have a neutral crowd ready."

"We'll be there," James replied.

"We will?" Eldon asked.

"Apparently," Daniel answered.

"Until then," the boy said, turning away. "By the way, the name's Marcellos. Remember it when you get defeated."

The three boys saw the group leave, while they noticed that it was just the three of them after they left. But they had been with four.

Where was Lamar?

He appeared from behind a tree, casually sitting down on the bench.

"Sorry, I needed to pee," he said. It was the only excuse that he could think of.

"For so long?" Eldon asked.

Lamar nodded.

He actually didn't need to pee. He knew the people of Your Show Duel School. He had been part of that Duel School before he went to Your Move.

But he left them without really officially letting them know. He had just told them that he would leave and he has never seen them again.

Therefore, he needed to prevent Your Move from going there.

And Kate and Chris were the way to do just that.

* * *

><p>Brandon had listened to the whole conversation with body leaning against the wall, eyes closed.<p>

He only opened his eyes once and that was exactly the reason why he was still in the room.

Leonardo had immediately headed back to LDS after he and Master reached agreement, commenting that he looked forward to their cooperation.

"Master. I know I'm not allowed to say this, but don't you think it's a risk?" Brandon asked. "We don't know anything about Pendulum. We don't know where it comes from, we don't know why it exists, and we don't know the dangers of it. Releasing them into the public could have huge risks."

Master smiled. Brandon had the urge to frown, but he didn't. "I understand you worries, Brandon. And don't worry, you are my best student. That technically makes you my right hand. But don't worry, you'll still be the best Pendulum user around."

"Honestly, that's not what it is about, Master," Brandon revealed. "It's like I say. The risks are big. We don't know what happens if one constantly uses Pendulum and for a long time. It could mean dead, for as far as we know."

"I know. And that's exactly why we have to release them into the public," Master answered. "Only by taking the risk, we know what will happen."

"Is that risk really worth it?" Brandon wondered. "If it's deadly, then a lot of Maiami's City's population will be gone."

"Just like you," Master said.

"My life is just a small price to pay if we can save many others with that," Brandon answered.

"Don't worry about this. If anything will go wrong, we will recall the Pendulum monsters," Master spoke. "You only need to be on standby. It might be possible that The Alternate Overlord needs your help."

Brandon nodded. As owner of original Pendulum monsters, Leonardo wanted his help to help him develop Pendulum monsters.

And while he was against the idea at first, his eagerness got the better of him. He really wanted to learn about Pendulum more than just the basic logic he had right now.

He had thus agreed to helping his rival and that meant that he needed to visit Leo Corporation more often than he wanted to, but it was no big problem doing that if he could learn more about Pendulum.

Brandon took a stance from his position, leaving Master's room to go back to Your Move Duel School.

He heaved a sigh, bringing his palm to his forehead.

"Why do I always agree to doing these things..."

* * *

><p>"So let me get this straight, James agreed to having an 'entertainment battle'?" Kate asked, eyebrows raised.<p>

"That's right," Lamar confirmed.

Kate immediately walked out of her office, taking Chris apart, explaining the whole situation to him.

He immediately went back to the group, addressing James. "Is it true that you agreed to having a battle with another Duel School?"

He grinned, nodding. "Yup!"

Chris looked at him with a serious expression, being on the verge of glaring at him. But then he smiled, giving him a hearty slap on the back. "Well done!"

"Well done?" Kate asked.

"I like entertainment dueling," Chris said. "So an entertainment battle will be cool to see, too!"

"But we can't go and do that," Kate said.

"Miss Kate is right," Emily butted in. "The duel against All-Star Trinity is coming up. This will only disrupt our preparations!"

"But it sounds really cool!" Paris went. "Besides, it's training too in some sort of way."

James stupidly nodded, while Chris nodded acknowledging.

"Alright then," Kate said, knowing the perfect way to settle this. "Everyone who doesn't want to go there, come stand with me and Emily. Everyone who wants to go, go stand with James and Chris."

The group quickly divided itself into two groups.

One group existed out of Chris, James, Paris, Eldon, Michelle and Chloe. The other group existed out of Kate, Lamar, Daniel, Stephanie and Riley.

Chris' group had more people, but there was still one person that needed to choose.

"Brandon. You're vote will be decisive," Kate revealed. "When you choose for us, we have to find another way to solve this. If you choose for Chris' group, they win."

Brandon opened an eye, only needing to know one thing. "What Duel School are we battling?"

"Your Show Duel School."

His second eye popped open. Your Show? If he remembered correctly, Marcellos was sent to that school as part of his mission.

And he actually needed Marcellos for something, so this was the perfect opportunity to get it from him.

"Everyone, grab your stuff," he ordered.

"We're going to Your Show Duel School."

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I know. The names are the Duel School are so lame as can be. But my naming skills have never been good, and never will be.<strong>

**Now, how did I come up with Leonardo's name. Well, Leo is often a nickname used for people with the name Leonardo. Leo appears in the name of Leo Corporation and Leo Duel School. Declan is Reiji's dub name. Yes, I am that lazy. Yes, my naming skills really are that bad.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I wish all of you a nice day.**

**See ya!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V. I only own my OCs.**

** guest, well, I have just taken Reiji's father first name, and turned it into Leonardo. But, don't worry. Leonardo Declan isn't evil.**

* * *

><p>Preparation for All-Star Trinity, off to Your Show!<p>

* * *

><p>"Who's van is this anyway?"<p>

"Does it matter?"

James was wondering who's van it was while Brandon didn't really care. They had transportation towards Your Show Duel School and that was what counted.

Your Show wasn't far away from Your Move, but it was a totally different Duel School. It was bigger, more respected and more 'special'. It was the only Duel School that taught duelists that what's called Entertainment Dueling. Because of that, quite some students want to attend that Duel School.

But they were also cocky about it. Because their Duel School was so good, and because they were taught Entertainment Dueling they immediately thought they were better than others because they could do that while they couldn't.

And that was mainly why James accepted the challenge. He wanted to show Your Show that you didn't necessarily need Entertainment Dueling to enjoy a crowd.

Brandon's reason for tagging along to that Duel School was easy: Marcellos. Just like him, Marcellos was one of All-Star Trinity's Master Rank duelists, and by now probably a leader-figure at Your Show.

But Marcellos had something that Brandon needed. James' deck missed two vital parts. Marcellos had those parts.

He knew that Marcellos wouldn't just give those to him. He had already said that to Master. Brandon knew that he needed to defeat him to get those.

And that's why he came as prepared as possible. He couldn't underestimate Marcellos, no matter if he liked the guy's deck or not.

"We're here," Kate informed, the van coming to a stop.

Everyone got out of the van, the students of Your Show already awaiting them.

Brandon decided to stay in the back of his group. He needed to be able to sneak away quick and unnoticed.

"Your Move. We already expected you," one of the students said. "Please follow us."

Brandon saw it as his opportunity as the group followed, quickly glancing to the left and the right. No one was paying attention to him.

So it was time to sneak away.

He separated himself from the group, walking off in another direction using the map of the inside of the school Master had given him.

* * *

><p>Marcellos turned around when he heard footsteps. Someone was about to disturb him from seeing how the Duel School he had a mission at was about to defeat Your Move, the Duel School were Brandon was at for his mission.<p>

The figure came closer and more recognizable for Marcellos. As a result, a scowl formed on his face.

"Brandon."

"Marcellos."

The two stared at each other for some time before Marcellos broke the silence. "Shouldn't you be down there with your Duel School?"

"Don't waste my time," he answered, his eyes narrowing. "You know what I want and what I'm here for."

"You didn't really think that I would give that to you just because you want it and you told Master about it?" Marcellos sarcastically asked. "Why do you need them, anyway? You have some of those of your own."

"That doesn't matter," Brandon replied, taking out his Duel Disk. "And I know you wouldn't just hand them over. Therefore, I'm dueling you for it. Ante rule."

"Sounds fun," Marcellos admitted, pointing at himself with his thumb. "But what would it bring me?"

Brandon took out 3 cards, showing them to Marcellos with a serious expression. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, and Clear Wing Synchro Dragon."

Marcellos' eyes widened, a grin forming on his face. "So you're setting the three parts of your soul on the line? Those monsters aren't bad."

Marcellos corrected himself inwardly. Those monsters would fit in amazingly in his deck. Those three dragons were feared through whole All-Star Trinity. With those three monsters he could easily outgrow the level of Master Rank duelist.

But, of course, he needed to duel against Brandon for it and his own cards were on the line, too.

"I accept your challenge," Marcellos said, taking out his own Duel Disk. "Get ready for a rush of excitement!"

They readied their Duel Disks, holding the 5 card tightly in their hand, giving it a quick scan to see what they could already do.

Brandon knew that he couldn't afford to lose this. He didn't care about his position as Master Rank duelist. Right now, his dragons were on the line and the two last pieces needed for James' deck.

The look in his eyes settled into a confident gaze as Marcellos grinned at him. "Duelists locked in battle!"

"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters," Brandon continued.

"They storm through this field," Marcellos went.

"Behold. This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling," Brandon finished.

"Action..." Marcellos began, before they finished together.

""...DUEL!""

* * *

><p>They struggled.<p>

James never thought they would have it this hard against them.

Their movements were swift and impeccable. They even were in perfect sync with their monsters.

The only one who could keep up with their swiftness and their moves was Lamar, but he couldn't do it alone.

James himself couldn't do anything without a deck, and all of them were no where near specialized in Entertainment Dueling.

Maybe he should have thought things over before accepting their challenge.

And where in the world was Brandon when you actually needed him?

James decided to send out Chloe, Michelle and Emily. Because he was as good as useless, Kate and Chris gave him the job to make sure the 'Entertainment Battle' went well from their side.

Was it a disaster? Not entirely. Were there any encouraging things in their performance? Absolutely not.

Wait, did Chloe just slip? Yup, she slipped. As if things couldn't get any worse.

Did Michelle just fall on the ground? Oh boy, this was getting worse.

Even Emily stood still, watching it while not knowing what to do while she was supposed to be 'entertaining' the crowd.

That same crowd boo'd when one of them got on the stage, while the duelists of Your Show got loud cheering.

Could somebody save them? Nope. Not even a miracle.

And the time wasn't up yet.

This would be a loooooooong battle.

* * *

><p>"Hell Dive Whirlwind Slasher!"<p>

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon finished off Marcellos' remaining monster while Brandon heaved a sigh of relief.

Marcellos had literally stormed through the duel field alongside his monsters. It annoyed Brandon to no end and actually made it hard for the blond to duel normally. It had also gotten pretty close with just his 1100 life left and Marcellos' 900, but luckily for him, he managed to get himself a 'Destiny Draw', as people would call it.

Through it, he managed to get out Clear Wing Synchro Dragon to finish it.

Marcellos grunted. "You've triumphed over me once again. Just like 5 years ago..."

Now that he thought of it, it had been 5 years since their last duel. But to be honest, he couldn't care so much about the fact that he had triumphed against Marcellos again. He was just glad that his dragons were still with him and that he managed to obtain the 2 missing pieces to James' new deck.

Some of Marcellos' cards were scattered across the floor, the two cards he needed among them.

He picked them up, holding them in his hand as he changed his attention to Marcellos.

"You've become even better. This Entertainment Dueling really suits you," Brandon noticed. "Master should be proud."

"I've become even better but I'm not good enough to beat you or Justin yet..." Marcellos acknowledged. "I have to continue to follow your path and keep up with you guys."

"You don't need to keep up with us. You need to keep up with yourself," Brandon spoke. "And follow your path instead of ours. You are you, Justin is Justin, and I am me. We are all different and we do things differently."

Marcellos frowned. That actually was right. They really were different. Justin was the one frustrated that he wasn't the best and that he wasn't Master's favorite. Brandon was Master's favorite but didn't seem to care too much about his position, and he wanted to keep up with them but was skilled in Entertainment Dueling while he wanted to show Master he was good enough to be a Master Rank duelist.

"The path you're taking right now is the right one for you," Brandon admitted. "Walk further down that road, and I'll be willing to take you on again. Because I like it when people give me a hard time and you've done just that."

Marcellos actually disliked Brandon. The arrogance— No. The overconfidence he showed. His way of talking, the things he did. Who he was. Marcellos disliked it all.

But he disliked Justin, too. The shouting, the arrogance. And just like Brandon, just who he was in general.

And maybe secretly because Brandon and Justin were all that what Marcellos had always wanted to be.

The blond was one of the two duel child prodigies, known as the Dragonic Emperor. He was Master's favorite student in whole All-Star Trinity.

Justin was the second strongest duelist in All-Star Trinity, is spoiled as hell because of his rich parents but he could easily improve himself without pressure overtaking him, and he was also very respected by almost whole of All-Star Trinity.

But he was different. He was just the third Master Rank duelist, the weakest out of all three. Master favored Brandon and Justin over him. Probably even Hyper Rank duelist Kai. And he felt so much pressure to keep up. He definitely knew the meaning of pressure.

But that pressure changed him. The Marcellos he was now was not the one he once was. It changed him into a being that could hold grudges and know feelings like hate.

Brandon was still staring at him, his hand still extended. "Are you going to take it or are you going to help yourself up through those circus moves of yours?"

He smiled. He took his hand, allowing the blond to help him up. And that boy actually was right. He needed to follow his own path, not Jason's or Brandon's.

Therefore, he made the best decision possible.

"I will quite being a Master Rank duelist."

Brandon frowned at his declaration, wondering what went through the boy's head. "Just because you lost to me doesn't mean that you should quit with it."

"It's not because of that. The whole pressure that comes with it... It's just nothing for me," Marcellos explained. "In fact, I think I will just leave All-Star Trinity for Your Show."

Was Marcellos that attached to Your Show already? Brandon couldn't think about leaving All-Star Trinity for Your Move. Sure, the people in Your Move were nice, but it was so different from what he was used to. And besides that, he had sworn his loyalty to Master. Leaving All-Star Trinity would feel like betraying Master. He was definitely unable to do that.

"Hey, it's your path. You don't have to be accountable to me," the blond answered, turning to the door to leave. "But remember that I will come back to duel you again."

Marcellos nodded, he'd like that. "Of course. Then I will show you real Entertainment Dueling."

Entertainment Dueling was nothing for him. It was a more advanced form of Action Dueling to him and he didn't like the latter.

But it sure was impressive and energetic to see Marcellos do that. And it actually made it difficult to beat him.

Brandon nodded, a smirk following. "Please do."

The blond left to join the rest of the group, interested to see how it went.

And interested in what James would think of his new deck.

* * *

><p>This was bad, this was bad, this was bad.<p>

Kate, Chris, and Emily were standing in front of the group, and that could only mean one thing: scoldings, and shouting from Emily.

"I'm disappointed in you guys," Kate stated. "Accepting a challenge and then going unprepared. I hope you will do better next time."

Chris nodded. She took the words out of his mouth.

The two then left to Kate's office to, once again, take care of administrative stuff.

"Chloe, you slipped," Emily remembered. "You slipped! That's not good enough! If you would come here more often and stay here longer, than it wouldn't have happened!"

Chloe looked down at the ground. Maybe Emily was right, but she didn't know why she couldn't stay that long.

The boys shot each other a quick glance. Did Emily just shout at one of the girls in her group, who's supposed to be one of her friends?

She then looked at Michelle, glaring. "And I'm not even going to start about you."

Not even going to start about her? What in the world did Emily mean with that? Michelle was starting to get fed up with Emily.

And Brandon was the last victim.

"And you, mister," she spoke. "What went through your head? Having the decisive vote in going there, we're going there because of you, and then you just sneak off somewhere!"

"I know but I had business to do," he responded.

"Business? So you own business is more important than S-Rank?" Emily asked.

"Of course not," he replied. "I'm sorry. I should have battled alongside you guys instead of thinking about myself."

Michelle felt for the blond boy. Sure, he sneaked off on his own which was unheard of, but he didn't deserve all the shouting from Emily.

But with or without him, they would have still lost. Besides that, Chloe was the one who slipped and she was the one who fell on the ground. And Emily didn't even continue when that happened. She just stopped and stared.

If there was someone more to blame than the blond boy, it was Emily.

"Don't be so mean to him! You were terrible too!" she blurted.

Emily, Brandon and the rest looked at her, the first two frowning.

"What did you just say?"

Emily's tone was hostile, a glare present to go with it. But this time, Michelle wouldn't back down.

"When I fell and Chloe slipped, you could have just carried on, instead, you just stared at us," Michelle remembered. "You are more to blame than Brandon."

Then there was a lot of arguing, blaming, and shouting. Upon hearing those shouts, Kate and Chris came out to see what it was all about.

Brandon, who was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed and arms crossed noticed them coming in, pointing towards the cause for the shouting.

Kate sighed. Emily and Michelle. Again.

The shouting abruptly stopped as they noticed Kate and Chris coming, both taking a step away from the other.

"What is this all about?" Kate demanded to know. "Two of my best duelists are fighting. Again!"

The two girls glared at each other, not planning to apologize this time.

"I want to be the leader of S-Rank."

Everyone was shocked at Michelle declaration. Stephanie frowned, James had a stupid grin on his face, Riley had her eyes widened, Emily frowned before glaring, and even Brandon couldn't help but feel shocked a little bit.

But to him, this was one hell of an amazing soap. They should turn this into one so that his mom could watch it instead of those stupid ones that didn't make any sense.

Kate and Chris shot each other a look, a smile forming on Chris' face.

"Actually, we have been discussing about that. Kate wanted Emily, and I wanted you," Chris spoke. "So maybe now is a good chance to settle this."

Kate nodded, and maybe then all the fighting could be over. "Emily, you go and stand right from me. Michelle, you go and stand left from me."

The two girls did as told, not really sure on what was about to happen.

"The rest of you. Vote," she ordered. "The one who gets the most support is the new leader."

Brandon frowned a bit. Was this how things went outside All-Star Trinity? Just voting for everything?

James was the first one to walk to Michelle's side, Lamar and Daniel soon followed. Stephanie was the first to walk to Emily's side.

Paris, Eldon, Chloe, Riley and Brandon were the last ones left to vote.

Paris was Emily's friend, but would having Emily as leader improve them much as duelists? Not very much. And she knew what happened with duelists who don't improve. They would just get demoted to A-Rank. She didn't want that.

She chose Michelle. Just for her own safety.

Emily and Stephanie looked shock. Their best friend who was supposed to support them by choosing for them, just went to the other side.

1 down, 4 to go.

Eldon looked back and forth. Emily, his crush and the one who rejected him rudely time after time,and the girl who was on the loosing side, or Michelle, the girl that was always nice to him and who had the support of his friends.

That was an easy choice, despite his feelings. One for Michelle again.

Emily's eyes found the floor. She was losing, and heavily, too. Had she really been that bad of a leader?

Chloe took a step forward, urging to walk to Emily's side. But the way Emily acted towards her, it made her feel unimportant. Michelle was way nicer, and would care too much about it if she left earlier.

She chose Michelle, too.

Emily looked at Riley. She was her sister, surely she would choose her side.

But Riley had doubts. She shouldn't choose Emily just because they were sisters. Michelle was the better choice for S-Rank. Michelle would bring them together, and only then they would be able to all improve.

She chose Michelle's side with a face of guilt. Emily was shocked. Her very own sister turned her back on her. It was getting even worse.

Everyone looked at Brandon, who hadn't even lifted a finger the whole time. They were eagerly waiting for him to chose as the last person who needed to do so.

He noticed everyone staring, prompting him to raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"You still have to choose," Kate pointed out.

"I won't," he declared. "My vote won't matter anyway. Michelle has won with a big lead."

Right. 1 for Emily, 6 for Michelle, and one who refused to chose.

"That's settled then," began Chris.

"Michelle is your new leader," Kate finished.

The boys rejoiced about it, while the girls congratulated her.

And Emily rushed out of the room, heading off to no one knows where.

* * *

><p>She sadly gazed in front of her, knees pulled up.<p>

The people she had known for quite some time had just, hence for 2, even though she knew one of time for not that long, turned their backs on her as leader.

She didn't care that she lost to Michelle. It was just that... she felt betrayed. They could have just told her that they didn't like the way she did things. She could have changed the flaws she had as leader.

Instead, they just decided to be total jerks. But Riley's choice hurt her most. Her very own sister never spoke to her about it all, she always said that she was doing a good job at it.

Then why would she choose Michelle?

She heard the door open. Great, someone who was about to say that he/she felt sorry for her.

She glanced to the side, noticing a blond boy walking in. He stood completely still, noticing Emily's sadness.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not really in the mood to talk to anyone.

He sat down on the small sofa she was on, hiding his hands in his pockets. "Figured you could need a friend."

"Honestly," she started, "I **don't**."

He simply shrugged, not going away. And because she knew that he wasn't planning on leaving, she just allowed him to stay.

A silence fell. She knew Brandon wasn't much of a talker, but if he didn't come to talk, then why even was he here?

The blond boy carefully chose his words, finally speaking up.

"I know how you feel."

"No, you don't," was her immediate response.

"Honestly, I do," he spoke. "I was a leader at my previous Duel School, too. It was hard for me to start from the bottom and to take orders from others. I came here and was a nobody. You are afraid you will become the same."

"No," she went. "I'm **fine**. And I'm **not** afraid of becoming a nobody."

"I know that you're not fine," Brandon revealed. "You're emphasizing your words."

How could he knew that she did that when she lied? He didn't know her for that long.

"Riley, Eldon and Stephanie told me before I came here," he clarified.

Could this boy read her mind or something?

A silence fell again. Emily actually found it to be a soothing silence. In these not even 5 minutes she had learned that Brandon Kanbara knew exactly what to say and when not to speak. Maybe it helped because he understood her pain.

"I actually feel betrayed," she revealed. She didn't know why she told him, but it seemed like a good idea. "I've known these guys for so long... And then they pulled a trick like this... Even my own sister..."

Betrayal. That word still stung deep in his own soul. He knew that feeling as well. And it wasn't a good one.

"You just don't need to show them your pain. Use the pain you feel now and turn it into your strength," he spoke. "It will help you. I'm sure of it. But please, just cooperate, even if you don't want, too. The more you show Kate and Chris you're willing to do everything for S-Rank, the more they will consider making you the leader of S-Rank again."

"But, I was the leader... that meant everything to me..."

"I noticed that. But look at it from what side," he proposed. "You don't have all the pressure of being a leader anymore, you don't have to solve any problems anymore, and people actually get to see the real you. It could be a fresh start, you know."

Was this how he got over the fact that he wasn't a leader anymore?

The Brandon Kanbara that was sitting next to her sure was different from the one he was when he was with the S-Ranks.

He then stood up, patting her head out of sympathy. "I'm off now. I still have some stuff to do."

Emily actually felt disappointed that he needed to leave. She honestly thought she wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone. She guessed she was wrong.

"If you ever want to talk, you know how to find me," he said as he headed for the door.

"Thank you," she managed to say before he left. "And sorry for shouting at you.

In response, he only smirked.

"Don't bother thanking me," he replied. "It's no problem. Honestly, people shout at me all the time. Now stop moping around. Smiling suits your face better. See you later, Ems."

And then he was gone.

'Ems'. Now that she wasn't the leader anymore, he didn't call her 'Cap'. Oh well.

His words actually made sense. The more she showed that she was willing to cooperate because it was good for S-Rank, the more people would see that she wanted the best for S-Rank. Just like a leader would.

And it would indeed take away all the stress it always gave her.

She stood up from the bench, a confident look settling in her eyes.

All-Star Trinity would be the first ones to see the real Emily Beaton.

* * *

><p><em>Believe x Believe biri-biri-biri Buddies!<em>

The boy peacefully walked through the park as the music blasted through his headphones.

It was a beautiful day to be outside and he was able to discover the city some more.

Jason would be mad if he found out about this, but the teen didn't care about that. It was a nice day to be outside, so he just went for it. Jason's scolding was something for later.

Even if something would happen, the people would probably mistake him for Brandon Kanbara, anyway.

He walked past a small bench where 4 boys were on, laughing and talking about something.

"There he is!" one of them said. "Over here, Brandon!"

One of them called him over. The teen raised an eyebrow, they were probably friends of Brandon. Were they really unable to distinguish them?

The teen simply shook his head to let them know that he wouldn't join them and he simply continued his stroll through the park.

The boys all gave him a weird look.

Then James spoke up.

"I didn't knew Brandon liked cosplay."

* * *

><p>S-Rank was all complete except for the boys and Emily. Even Brandon looked around, wondering if he was too early.<p>

But he also wondered if Emily would even show up. Sure, he had talked to her yesterday, but talks never were an assurance for something.

Walking through the door was Emily, throwing her bag down with the others. She walked past everyone, ignoring the people that wanted to speak to her.

"So you decided to show up," Brandon noticed when she stood next to him.

"Of course," she replied. "If I won't come to S-Rank, then who will?"

Brandon smirked. That was the Emily he knew.

"Smile."

"Eh?"

"Just do it," he demanded. "You owe me one for helping you out."

She didn't intend to smile, but the playful tone in his voice made it go automatically.

"See?" he asked, while he knew that Emily couldn't see it. "Smiling suits you way better."

She was about to say something when the boys suddenly rushed in, throwing their bags with the others. "Sorry we're late!"

James then walked up towards Brandon, crossing his arms in a playful manner. "Why didn't you join us in the park?"

"I told you that I was unable to come," Brandon answered.

"Then why were you in the park?" James asked, eyebrows raised.

"And in cosplay too," Lamar added.

"Cosplay?" Brandon asked. "Are you guys crazy or something? I wasn't even near the park."

"You were," Daniel butted in. "You wore a whig with white, unkempt hair, and you had a strange red stripe underneath each even wore these strange earrings. Oh, and you also wore something that looked like those outfits priests of the gods used to wear."

Brandon blinked a couple of times, frowning after he was done blinking. "What...?"

Wait. White, unkempt hair, red stripe underneath each eye, earrings, strange outfit that nobody would wear.

He brought the palm of his hand to his forehead, inwardly muttering to himself that All-Star Trinity should have kept a better eye on the guy.

His carefreeness would get them into troubles at one point, and it seems that point was now.

Darn that Xandon.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry that I'm a day late, but the login option was down, so I couldn't update yesterday. Hope you guys don't mind that.<strong>

**I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I wish all of you a nice day.**

**See ya!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

><p>The first standoff! All-Star Trinity V.S. Your Move! Warrior of the Deep Sea, Kai Pearson V.S Dragonic Emperor, Brandon Kanbara!<p>

* * *

><p>"Where's that friend of yours?"<p>

"Well, aren't we moody today."

Jason smirked at the blond, who scowled.

"Not funny," he said. "But where is he?"

"Who?"

"Xandon."

Jason shook his head. "I don't know. He's probably living in his own carefree world right now."

"Well, he invaded mine," Brandon said. "Because of him, the people at Your Move think I'm into cosplaying."

"Wait. Are you saying that he went out in the public and that people saw him?" asked Jason.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"That idiot!" Jason spat. "I told him not to go out in public. Someone of Fusion could have seen him!"

"I know, I know. Don't worry, I'll talk to him about it," Brandon said. "If I can find him..."

* * *

><p>"Emily."<p>

Ignored.

"Emily."

Ignored. Again.

"Emily!"

Ignored even more.

"Come on, Emily! You can't keep ignoring me!"

Since the whole incident, Emily had decided to ignore practically anyone who turned her back against her. Not because they did it, but because she had known most of them for a long time. She had honestly expected them to tell her when she wasn't doing a good job. Never, ever had she expected them to go behind her back.

But Riley was the one that had hurt her the most. For a sister to do that to a sister. Emily couldn't believe something like that.

Despite being sisters by blood, she didn't knew if she could still see Riley as a sister. And until the time she figured out wether to do that or not, she decided to just not see her like that. Or well, ignore her.

"Fine." Riley heaved a sigh of defeat before leaving Emily's room, carefully closing the door behind her.

Emily breathed out a large puff of air. That went easier then expected. Not flawless, but it went quite okay.

"I should ask Brandon to learn me how he does it."

* * *

><p>"There you are."<p>

Xandon looked up from his position, a blond boy hovering over him.

"You've been out in the open again, haven't you, Xandon?"

The boy blinked a couple of times, remembering when the weather was very nice.

"I have," he answered. "Why?"

"Because people have mistaken you for me," Brandon answered. "Because of that, people think that I like cosplaying."

"But then what is the problem?"

Brandon brought the palm of his hand to his forehead. This guy was probably even more carefree than James and Kai. And he was already struggling with those 2 people on occasions.

"Nothing. At least not yet," he quickly added. "You just have to be a little bit more careful. If they find you, and when they discover you guys are in All-Star Trinity, things won't work out like they are supposed to."

"I'm sorry," Xandon said, giving the blond an apologetic nod. "This whole situation is new for me."

"You think it isn't for me?" Brandon asked, frowning. "My dimensional counterpart is walking around freely without any worries. And I get the blame for all the troubles he causes!"

"But I don't cause any problems," Xandon protested.

"Not yet..." Brandon muttered under his breath. "Anyway, next time you want to go out, take Jason or someone else with you. Your carefreeness will get you in danger one day."

"Will do, Emperor."

"Please," Brandon began, "call me Brandon."

* * *

><p>They were all waiting with no knowledge of what to expect.<p>

All-Star Trinity could arrive any minute, and then they needed to duel against their students. They knew that All-Star Trinity was one of the top Duel Schools is Asia together with LDS and that many pro's came from there, but never had they seen of the duelists from there in action.

"You said that one of your acquaintances attends that Duel School, right?" Michelle asked Brandon, who nodded. "What rank does he have?"

"He's a Hyper Rank duelist. But the people in there say that he's good enough for Master Rank," he said. Alright, maybe he lied about that. But hey, he thought Kai belonged there, and he was a Master Rank duelist himself. That surely counted.

"But then why is he in Hyper Rank?" Eldon asked.

"Dunno. Knowing him it'll probably be his motivation," Brandon spoke. "But it might also be that the current Master Rank duelists are better than him."

"So he's good as a Master Rank duelist, but isn't one because the 3 current Master Rank duelists are stronger?" Riley asked. "What if all three the Master Rank duelists come and that Hyper Rank duelist? What if they bring them, and more of those Hyper Rank duelists? We'll be pulverized!"

"Calm down, it surely won't be that worse," James tried to reassure her. "Besides, I'm back in action again. There's no way we can lose now!"

Brandon had given him his deck yesterday, but he was bursting with excitement. He wanted to see how good it was, and what cards were in it.

Brandon had told him not to look through it. The best way to form a bond with a deck was to get to learn the cards in a duel, or so he said. So James decided that he would do that, and it could either become a success or a total failure.

A large vehicle then stopped in front of the Duel School. It gave off an intimidating and malicious vibe, while many began to gulp. The big door opened, all the people that were in it stepping out of the vehicle.

Eldon quickly stopped counting the amount of people that stepped out. They were with way too many.

"Yo, Kanbara!"

Brandon looked at a black-haired boy, who grinned at him stupidly.

"If it isn't Pearson," he spoke. "Didn't know you would be coming."

"Of course I would!" he answered. "I'm here to duel you!"

Kai was the only person of All-Star Trinity who had gotten orders to act as if he knew Brandon as a friend (which he really was), while the others were given strict orders to act like a stranger.

"What's this rotten place?"

Everyone frowned, looking towards the vehicle. Brandon recognized the voice.

The brunet then walked out of the vehicle, face full of disgust.

Justin.

A teacher was the last one to step out of the vehicle, taking a bow out of politeness. "Greetings Your Show. We are All-Star Trinity Duel School."

"Welcome!" Chris greeted. "We know that this Duel School is below your standard, but we still hope you can make yourselves at home."

"And we hope that you don't mind that we brought all of our S-Rank duelists with us," Kate added.

"We don't mind," the teacher answered. "However, 2 of our 3 Master Rank couldn't make it here today. We hope you don't mind that."

"Oh, we don't," Kate answered.

Everyone was cheering inwardly. 2 of their 3 Master Rank duelists absent would give them way more chance.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, they were not worth it anyway," Justin claimed. "I'm the best of them, and I'm here, so everything's fine. Now let's get this all started. The earlier I'm done, the earlier I can leave."

Brandon had to urge to growl but luckily he managed to hold it back. He hoped that whoever would duel him, would put him in his place. Even if the chance of that wasn't so high.

"Indeed. Let's get this started," the teacher repeated, Kate and Chris nodding at the request.

Everyone followed Kate and Chris, while Brandon's eyes widened when a cloaked boy passed him by. Did Master really allow the, according to Jason, strongest member of the Resistance to come along? And one that was his dimensional counterpart, too! This could never end well.

"Did they really bring Xandon along?!"

* * *

><p>The students of the two Duel Schools stood right across each other, one full of confidence, while the students of the other glancer around nervously.<p>

"Seeing that we are with way more students than you are, how about having 4 or 5 duelists duel against each other?" the teacher proposed.

Kate and Chris shot each other a quick look, Chris nodding. "That's fine with us."

"Good." The teacher turned towards his students, calling some of them forward. "Justin. I want to have you in there."

"Naturally."

"Yo, teach," Kai went. "I'm taking the blond one on!"

Brandon, knowing that he was 'the blond one', smirked. "Fine with me."

"No one asked your input, gogglehead," Justin growled. "So who is the lucky guy that gets to duel me?"

"Here."

Emily stepped forward, confidence burning in her eyes.

"But she's nowhere near a guy. Or lucky," Brandon commented.

Upon Justin's facial expression, the boys, except for Brandon, began to snicker. After they were done, Justin was the one who started to snicker.

"You're dueling me!?" he said in between the snickering. "But you're a girl!"

"What's wrong?" Brandon asked. "Scared that the girl will kick your butt?"

"Watch it, blondie!" Justin warned. He had gotten orders to act like a stranger towards the blond, and he would do that. A rude stranger, at that. He already hated Brandon with every fiber of his being, so he didn't have to put any effort in it.

"Oh wow. I'm so scared right now," Brandon taunted. "Be glad Kai wanted to take me on, otherwise I would be the one kicking your butt."

Kai resisted the urge to snicker. He, and the rest of All-Star Trinity, knew the history between the two. The fact that Justin's face became red out of anger made things even funnier.

"Fine then! I will take on the girl," Justin said. "But don't come crying on my shoulder when you lose."

"On your shoulder?" Brandon asked. "Things are getting good now!"

Your Move snickered. Justin's face became even redder. Did Brandon have a secret fetish for making a fool out of him?

"Is someone having an interest in Emily?" the blond tauntingly asked. "Because why else would you want her to cry on your shoulder?"

"I don't," Justin claimed. "It's only natural that girls want that."

"Your mother doesn't count..." Brandon deadpanned. "Neither does your sister..."

Your Move began to snicker again. Justin turned his back towards them. "Snicker all you want. You won't snicker after I have demolished you."

"Anyway," the teacher began, hoping to prevent a fight, turning towards a cloaked boy. "Xandon. I really want to use you, too."

"Xandon?" Eldon repeated.

"Your names rhyme!" James said to Brandon. "Family of yours? A long lost brother maybe?"

"Very funny," Brandon deadpanned. "It's just coincidence."

The cloaked boy nodded in approval, while Brandon's eyes narrowed. If Xandon really was the strongest member of Resistance, then it would take quite some skill to take him out.

"Now, who wants to take on Xandon?" Kate asked.

"Riley volunteers!" James replied with a grin.

Riley looked to the right, then to the left, hoping there might be another Riley present in the room. She then noticed that she was the only one and started to panic. "What? No!"

"Alright! Riley's dueling Xandon, then!"

"Thanks, James..." she deadpanned. "Now I have to duel!"

"No problem." James then noticed that All-Star Trinity didn't bring any duelist forward to duel, but he still wanted to duel. So he just let Kate and Chris know. "I want to duel, too."

"Oh, that's fine," the All-Star Trinity teacher said. "Now, let's see. Hm. You."

"Yes?" the boy went.

"Are you fine with dueling this boy?"

He looked around, he actually wanted to turn that offer down. He didn't need to duel any people of this Duel School.

But he then saw Brandon nod at him. He couldn't ignore orders from the Emperor.

"Sure."

"That's settled, then!" the teacher said, clasping his hands together. "You 4 are going to duel."

"And we are going to take it away!" Kai said. "Right, Kanbara?"

"If that's what you desire," he said with a smirk. "Then we'll do just that!"

* * *

><p>The two boys stood across each other, Kai grinning, Brandon smirking.<p>

"Ready?" Chris asked, just to be sure.

"More ready than ever!" Kai confirmed while Brandon only nodded.

They both activated their Duel Disks, while Kai began to speak. "Duelists locked in battle!"

"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters."

"They storm through this field!"

"Behold. This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling."

"Action..."

""DUEL!""

The Action Field was activated, turning the duel field in some sort of subtropical swimming pool. In the pool were multiple platforms to stand on, starting from being on the water to being attached to a rock to going completely up in the air.

"A water field!" Kai exclaimed. "This is perfect! My turn!"

Kai played one card, discarding the rest of them to his graveyard. "I activate Hand Obliteration! This magic card forces us both to discard our entire hand and draw new cards equal to the amount of discarded ones!"

Brandon discarded his whole hand too, the both of them drawing new cards.

"Then the effect of Abyssgunde and Abysshilde activates!" Kai said. "When Abysshilde is sent to the graveyard, I can special special summon a Mermail monster from my hand! I special summon Mermail - Oceabyss!"

Mermail - Oceabyss, Level 3, 1100/1900

"And Abyssgunde's effect allows me to special summon one Mermail monster from my graveyard when she's discarded," Kai explained. "So I'm special summoning Abysshilde back to the field!"

Mermail - Abysshilde, Level 3, 1300/400

"Then I normal summon Mermail - Abysslinde!"

Mermail - Abysslinde, Level 3, 1500/1200

**"I construct the Overlay Network with the Level 3 Oceabyss, Abysshilde and Abysslinde!" **Kai ordered. **"Xyz summon! Appear, Tri-Edge Levia!"**

Out of the Overlay Network, an armored fish appeared, pointing its spear at Brandon.

Tri-Edge Levia, Level 3, 1800/1500, Overlay Units: 3

"I set one card and end my turn!"

"My turn! Draw!" Brandon slapped a monster card on the monster card zone, a black dragon with big claws appearing on the field. "Because you control a monster, and I don't, I can special summon Vice Dragon with its attack and defense halved."

Vice Dragon, Level 5, 1000/1200

"Then I banish one Light dragon-type monster in my graveyard to special summon Somber-Black Dragon Collapserpent from my hand!" Brandon announced, the dragon appearing on the field.

Somber-Black Dragon Collapserpent, Level 4, 1800/1700

"Then I release Vice Dragon and Collapserpent!" Brandon declared, the two monsters disappearing as water out of the pool rose up and began to form something. "And I advance summon Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls - Tidal!"

Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls - Tidal, Level 7, 2700/2100

"And because he isn't special summoned, he won't return to my hand during your end phase," Brandon explained.

Kai gulped. Tidal meant serious business.

"Now, Tidal. Attack Tri-Edge Levia," Brandon ordered. "Tsunami Maelstrom!"

The dragon roared as a tsunami washed over Kai's field, flooding over Tri-Edge Levia. After that, the maelstrom drew Tri-Edge Levia in, making it disappear.

Kai: 4000 → 3100

"I set one card and end my turn."

**Kai: 3100, Cards x2**

**Brandon: 4000, Cards x2**

"My turn! Draw!"

Kai then sped off to find an Action Card, hoping to protect himself from the barrage of attacks from Brandon that would be coming next turn.

After some minutes of searching, Kai grinned. He had found the one that he needed. Jumping up and extending his arm to reach out to it, he went for it.

But then he looked down, finding the water bubbling underneath him. Then, suddenly, something jumped out of the water, snatching away the Action Card.

Kai landed on a platform in the air, looking down on Brandon's platform. A smug smirk painted his features as he took the Action Card out of Tidal's mouth.

Kai grinned at what he saw, not only did he bother to order Tidal to go and search for Action Cards, but he also accepted them, too. "I thought you didn't use Action Cards."

"I don't," answered the blond. "But as long as I have this card in my hand, you won't be able to use it."

He then examined the card further, adding it to his hand. "And it seems that was a good choice. This is pretty much the best Action Card available on this field."

"Why am I getting the feeling it's not smart to use Action Cards against you?" Kai asked.

"Because I will prevent you from getting them," Brandon answered. "In other words, you're just wasting your time."

"Very well, then. Trap, activate!" Kai went, his trap flipping open. "Abyssqual allows me to special summon 3 Mermails from my graveyard with their effects negated in defense position but they are destroyed during my end phase! Return, Mermail - Megaloabyss, Mermail - Leedabyss, Mermail - Abysslinde!"

Mermail - Megaloabyss, Level 7, 2400/1900

Mermail - Leedabyss, Level 7, 2700/1000

**"I construct the Overlay Network with the Level 7 Megaloabyss and Leedabyss!" **The two monsters disappeared into the Overlay Network. **"Xyz summon! King of the deep sea, Mermail - Gaioabyss!"**

A monster with the upper body of what seemed to resemble Poseidon, and the lower body of a sea dragon appeared out of the water, keeping his trident ready.

Mermail - Gaioabyss, Rank 7, 2800/1600, Overlay Units: 2

"So the Action Card was just a backup plan," Brandon connected. "Well played, Pearson."

"See it more as extra reinforcements," Kai said. "But thank you. You're not too shabby yourself, Kanbara."

Kai grinned, Brandon smirked. But Kai for another reason than Brandon.

"Now, as long as Gaioabyss is on the field while he has Overlay Units, level 5 or higher monsters can't attack," Kai explained. "So your Dragon Rulers will do nothing against me!"

Brandon said nothing, instead, he glanced to Tidal. He knew that the dragon would remain on his field for just a couple of seconds.

"Then I activate Abysscale - Mizuchi, giving Gaioabyss 800 extra attack!" Kai explained, an armor forming on Gaioabyss' body.

Mermail - Gaioabyss: 2800 → 3600

"Now, Gaioabyss! Attack Tidal!" Kai ordered.

Gaioabyss swam towards Tidal at high speed, thrusting his trident through the dragon's chest.

Brandon: 4000 → 3100

"I set one card and end my turn!"

"My turn! Draw!"

Brandon smirked, playing the magic card he had just drawn. "I activate Upstart Goblin!"

"Mizuchi's effect activates! When you activate a magic card, the armor negates it and destroys it, while I sent Mizuchi to the grave!"

The armor perished away, negating the Upstart Goblin but Brandon used another magic card. "I activate Pot of Greed! So now, I draw 2 new cards."

And he still had something else up his sleeve.

He picked two cards out of his hand, showing them to Kai, who's eyes widened.

**"With the scale 1 Star Stream Dragon and the scale 11 Time Stream Dragon, I'm setting the Pendulum Scale!" **he declared, a blue, legless dragon and a green, on 4 legs standing dragon with a golden arc on its back rose up into the pillars of light.

Star Stream Dragon: Scale 1

Time Stream Dragon: Scale 1

"Uh-oh..." was what Kai said, seeing the two dragons.

**"Grand power of my proud soul, unleash yourself so that the light within can draw the outlines of my heart! Pendulum summon! Arise, my fierce dragons!"** Brandon recited, a hole opening up in between the two pillars, two beams descending down on the platform.

Kai watched it in full awe, he had never seen Pendulum summoning before, and seeing it from this close made it even more impressive.

"Golem Dragon!"

Golem Dragon, Level 4, 200/2000

**"Arise with your strength directly given to you from the Pendulum, rare dragon with powers unknown to us all! Threat with dual colored eyes, descend now! The mysterious part of my soul, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"**

The red dragon roared as its eyes began to glow, and Brandon's trap opened. "Then I activate Call of the Living Dead, summoning back Alexandridragon from my graveyard!"

Alexandridragon, Level 4, 2000/0

**"I construct the Overlay Network with the level 4 Alexandridragon and Golem Dragon!" **he declared, the two dragons disappearing into the Overlay Network. **"****Created from pitch-black darkness, armed with mighty treacherous fangs. To rebel against those foolish enough to oppose you! Descend now, rebellious part of my soul! Xyz summon! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"**

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Rank 4, 2500/2000, Overlay Units: 2

"Now I activate Dark Rebellion's effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, the attack of one of your monsters is halved, while Dark Rebellion's attack will increase by the lost amount!" Brandon explained. "Treason Discharge!"

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: Overlay Units: 2 → 1

Purple sparks tied Gaioabyss together as he struggled to break free, Dark Rebellion roaring.

Mermail - Gaioabyss: 2800 → 1400

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 2500 → 3900

"Now, Dark Rebellion! Attack Gaioabyss!" Brandon ordered. "Rebellious Lightning Disobey!"

Thunder sparks began to surge through Dark Rebellion's wings, the horn on its chin getting enveloped in a bright light. In then flew of towards Gaioabyss, nailing it in the chest with the horn.

Kai: 3100 → 2000

"Odd-Eyes, direct attack!" Brandon ordered. "Spiral Strike Burst!"

"Trap, activate! Bubble Bringer!" Kai responded, his trap flipping open. "Bubble Bringer negates your direct attack!"

"I set one card and end my turn!"

**Kai: 2000, Cards x1**

**Brandon: 3100, Cards x1**

"My turn! Draw!" Kai played a magic card, immediately drawing 2 other cards. "I activate Pot of Greed! Now I can draw 2 new cards!"

"I activate Resurrection of the dead, bringing back Bearded Anglerfish!"

Bearded Anglerfish, Level 4, 1500/1600

"When Bearded Anglerfish is used to advance summon a Water type monster, it counts as 2 releases," Kai suddenly explained. "So I release the for 2 counting releases Bearded Anglerfish!"

Water rose up in the air, becoming insanely solid. Brandon soon realized that it wasn't water anymore but ice.

"Advance summon! Blue-Ice White Nights Dragon!"

The icy dragon roared at Brandon, who smirked at it in return. "Of course you would use that monster against me."

Blue-Ice White Nights Dragon, Level 8, 3000/2500

Kai only grinned, but he immediately went towards his battle phase. "Blue-Ice White Nights Dragon! Attack Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"

The ice dragon unleashed a powerful blast at Dark Rebellion, who got saved by Brandon's trap. "Trap, activate! Attack Invulnerability prevents Dark Rebellion from being destroyed by battle this turn!"

Brandon: 3100 → 2600

"Then I'm going to finish with this," Kai began, activating a magic card. "With the Dark Door, only one monster can attack each battle phase. So you can't throw a whole barrage at me anymore! Turn end!"

"My turn! Draw!"

Brandon looked at White Nights Dragon, then back at his own dragons. Dark Rebellion's Treason Discharge would give it enough attack to beat Kai right now, but Kai, knowing that he would lose then, would search for an Action Card, which could get his attack stopped. And Odd-Eyes would be unable to attack then because of Dark Door.

He had to use something that made it so that Kai wouldn't search for Action Cards but that would still made him lose.

"I activate Angel's Charity, and because of that I get to draw 3 cards as long as I discard 2 afterwards," the blond explained, doing just that.

Brandon then proceeded to see what card he had drawn, and he smirked at it. It was exactly what he needed.

"I activate the magic card, Fiber Change!" Brandon declared, the magic card materializing onto his field. "I can target and equip this card to one monster on my field, changing the type it has to a type I desire. The monster I will equip it to will be Dark Rebellion, the type I want is Beast. Cardinal Drive!"

The card shot a beam at Dark Rebellion, the body structure of the black dragon becoming way more beast-like.

**"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. Contact Fusion!" **The two dragons disappeared into a swirling whirlpool. **"Rebellious part of my soul. Become one with the mysterious part of my soul to awaken the cardinal instincts hidden deep inside! Ferocious dragon with luminous feral eyes, roar! Fusion summon! Unleash the beast within! Level 8! Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"**

Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Level 8, 3000/2000

Everyone looked at the beast-like Odd-Eyes, clearly amazed.

"Contact Fusion..." Chloe muttered.

"He summoned a Fusion monster," Eldon noted.

"And without Fusion, too," Daniel added.

"Contact Fusion," Paris repeated.

"Isn't that the kind of Fusion you can use, too, Chloe?" Stephanie asked.

Chloe nodded. "And I'm clearly not the only one."

"And he used a Pendulum monster and a Xyz monster to summon it..." Michelle mumbled.

Brandon used the last card in his hand, a magic card. "Dragon Treasure increases the attack and defense of the equipped monster with 300!"

Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 3000 → 3300

"Battle phase! It's time to buck wild, Beast-Eyes! Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Blue-Ice White Nights Dragon!" Brandon ordered as Beast-Eyes roared. "Hell Dive Burst!"

Beast-Eyes jumped up, firing a fire blast towards White Nights Dragon that took the form of its own head, the heat coming from the blast being enough to make the dragon melt away to its destruction.

Kai: 2000 → 1700

Beast-Eyes landed on the platform, turning towards Kai. "Then now, Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's effect! When he destroys a monster in battle, he will deal damage to you equal to the original attack of the Beast-type monster used. Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon's has an attack of 2500."

Kai took a step back, realizing what that meant. "And my life is only 1700..."

"Take this, Kai!" Brandon shouted, as Beast-Eyes formed another fiery blast, the blast smashing into Kai. The black-haired boy lost his balance and fell of the platform straight into the water.

Kai: 1700 → 0

**Brandon: WIN**

"At least it's a nice cool down..." Kai muttered.

"You really need to stop giving me a hard time, Pearson," Brandon spoke, being on the platform Kai was at before he fell into the water. "But it was a nice duel, nonetheless."

"True! But it seems you're still a bit too much for me," Kai admitted. "Oh well! I enjoyed myself!"

Brandon helped him out of the water, and the two joined their respective Duel Schools, continuing on to the next duel.

All-Star Trinity 0 - Your Move 1

* * *

><p><strong>Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's effect is a mixed one:<strong>

**1 "Pendulum Dragon" monster + 1 Beast-type monster**

**You can also special summon this card (From the extra deck) by releasing above cards you control (You do not use Fusion). If this card destroys a monster by battle: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the original ATK of the Beast-Type monster used as a fusion material.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I wish all of you a nice day.**

**See ya!**


End file.
